Substance Should Trump Style in Airport Remodel
Dear Omaha Airport Authority: Congratulations on your new garage and car rental facility!
The space is great and, in Nebraska weather, is wonderful on vehicles otherwise left out in the elements. The car rental area is marvelously bright and spacious and a great change from the dark caves which so often host airport car spots.
You must work with vast spaces and figure out how to move humans from a distant concourse to baggage retrieval to an exit from the place. In your exciting dream of a $500 million rebuild to deal with increased passengers and 21st century travel, I hope you have planned for extensive use of walking sidewalks (called “travelators”) in use commonly in airports throughout the world.
As a certified “old duffer” I’ll tell you that the trek from Concourse A down to baggage claim and up again to car rental is like a journey through the Alps. Well, not quite, but it’ll wear an old guy out.
My great mentor, the late Prof. John Gradwohl of the UNL Law College told me many decades ago that he chaired the “butt Committee” for the school. He said no building should be without one, which tried every chair and bench proposed for every niche.
In the car rental hall, you have light, space, efficiency and chairs which look like they might have been designed by a modern-day Frank Lloyd Wright, whose chairs were pretty on the eye but lousy on the sitting end.
I watched, from my rental line, an elderly lady trying to grab onto something useful as she descended. A few minutes later she tried to exit the seat and struggled until a really big guy hoisted her to her feet.
I’ve traveled to many an airport and Omaha is generally a total delight. Its nearness to downtown is simply great. Now as you plan for the future, remember the codger set and help us move and sit with greater ease!
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