US Airports Desperately Need Improvement. Here's Why.

In 2016 America , the words “ go to the airdrome ” have the same outcome on your blood pressure as hearing the words “ national audit . ” What was once a pretty basic experience – go , check a bag , get on a plane – is now an ordeal that make youlook and feelabout as good as someone contemplate for a country bar exam . US airdrome may be riddle withlong security measures lines , irritating people , and endless noise , but it ’s not like that all over the world . aerodrome in Asia , Europe , and some theatrical role of the Middle East are absolutely suppress the United States when it comes to modernization and atmosphere . And it ’s doing some serious damage to our global fight .

Air travel is a key economic indicator

To interpret why we need to update our airports , you must first translate why aviation traveling is such a huge economic indicant . If you ’re into take 18 - page papers from MIT economists on the topic , by all means , take a gander . If you ’re not , nobody ’s gon na blame you – here ’s the TL;DR : Air change of location and the economic system have a codependent relationship . Air travel brings line and leisure travelers , who in turn spend money and improve the saving . More money mean more business for locals , who in tour , spend that money going places … on airplanes ! Which leads to more flights , more competition , and lower Leontyne Price . And now with more – and cheaper – flight , evenmorepeople visit the arena , and the thriftiness continues to grow . The cycle continues .

So , basically , the more citizenry flying TO your region , the best your economy will be . And the biggest roadblock to increasing those numbers ? Infrastructure .

Our airports don’t measure up

Which contribute us to the collectively shitty condition of most US airports . As Americans , we ’ve just derive to admit that airports are loud , crowded , accent - induct places where the universal high spot is paying $ 2 additional for a dual . trusted , we ’ve addedsome better food selection , and , if you ’re in San Francisco , a yoga way , but on a global scale our airports are pretty scurvy places . “Overseas airports are placid and reposeful , ” order Patrick Smith , a commercial-grade pilot light and the author ofCockpit Confidentialandaskthepilot.com . “ In Asia , the airports are incredibly efficient . Everything is streamlined , it ’s amazing and it just drives you crazy why we ca n’t figure that out . Ours are just nightmarish . ”Seoul ’s airport has a golf course of instruction . Singapore has have a butterfly and sunflower garden . At sunny LAX , your only outdoor choice is a smoke area . Many overseas airports have “ sleeping pods , ” where maroon passengers can catch some Zs in a microroom without having to provide the pole . In America we have MicroSuites … in THREE airdrome . So unless you ’re flying through Atlanta , Philly , or DFW , your only in - pole option is the chateau de floor . You get the point . While a lot of countries have created an enjoyable , efficient drome experience , we ’ve add a couple of Wolfgang Pucks and said , “ Eh , that ’ll do . ” That ’s why whenSkytraxasked nearly 13 million passengers to rank the world ’s airdrome for its annual survey , not a single US airport was in the top 25 . Not one . In fact , whenSkytraxdeveloped an airport star - rating organisation like tothose used for hotel , no US airport receive a top , five - star rating . The only two that got four star were San Francisco and Cincinnati , and when your country ’s hub of invention is Southern Ohio / Northern Kentucky , maybe it ’s time to make some changes . Even if Cincy does havesuch a gorgeous skyline .

You see , most major US airports were built early in the commercial air travel game . And while they were located in place with mountain of country for expanding upon , the grow metropolis around them eventually snatched up all that property . Now many ( cough::LAX::cough ) are dumbfound serving millions more passenger than they were designed for and are in despairing want of improvement . Some even ask to be razed and substitute . Looking at you LGA.And do n’t even get us started on our air dealings control system . That ’s only40 years out of date .

The solution is simple, but it’s probably gonna piss you off

So why has the rest of the world eclipsed us ? It ’s not because we love stand in 30 - minute ancestry for pretzel and sleeping on airdrome floor . It ’s because the Union politics does n’t want to invest in airport infrastructure . And the grounds for that is reasonably simple ; because it imply increasing the passenger readiness charge . The rider facility charge – or PFC – is a $ 4.50 - per - segment charge you probably scarce notice on your Es - mail verification when you purchase an airline business ticket . It ’s levied by local aerodrome to fund operations , but Congress assure how much they can levy . And Congress has n’t authorized them to raise it … SINCE 2000 ! Which mean airports have been stuck using local and federal taxation money – as well as their own revenue – to make any melioration . And , well , we see how well that ’s function . Unlike a mountain of other taxes , the PFC is a user tax that is reinvested directly into drome infrastructure . Which essentially means that the the great unwashed who use the airdrome are the one paying to make them better . And since improved airport substructure is a try out economical machine driver , it ’s the rarefied taxation that in reality shows a return on investment . Some change of location chemical group indicate that raising the taxation would warn travel – airway tickets are high enough as it is , right ? – but even repeat it would only sum a whopping $ 9 per orotund head trip just the ticket . Or just about one - third of what you give to check your bag ( whichyou should absolutely do , btw , for all of our sakes ) . One manner . In an earned run average where extra fees are the norm , adding less than ten bucks to the cost of a ticket seems like a small price to pay for better our worldwide competitiveness .

According to theUS Travel Association , doubling the PFC would contribute over $ 2.5 BILLION to our land ’s airports , and actually grant them to use FEWER Union tax dollars . As Mel Allen used to say , how ‘ bout that . We’re not getting up on a soapbox here ( OK , we kind of are , but still … ) , just pointing out how significant update the land ’s airports is to our proportional position in the global economy . And also , to our general sanity . badly , should n’t we supportanythingthat will make flying in America tolerable again ?

airplane taking off