Why are US airports so dated compared to those in Asia and Europe?
Dec 29, 2022, 7:44 am
#61
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,333
For the same reason our highways and bridges are literally falling apart. We built this infrastructure before anyone else, and we have not been maintaining it properly, so it is old and antiquated. Comparing hub airports in Asia, which are mostly fairly new and privatized, to the airports in the USA, which were all built several decades earlier and are ran by the government, is comparing apples and oranges. Another big piece of the puzzle is that the USA is very unique in that the vast majority of our flights are domestic. This is why "duty free" is such a big deal and big moneymaker in most major airports outside of the USA, and an afterthought domestically. Removing this cash cow cuts into the bottom line for the airport, making it a less profitable venture. This also explains why we do not have Intl-Intl transit areas, which can be a real pain for people who are simply trying to transit via one of our airports, but is not something most Americans even realize or consider.
Given our aversion to taxes and government spending for anything domestically (wars, oil subsidies, and foreign aid seem to have carte blanche when it comes to spending), there is simply not adequate funding to make the kind of capital improvements to build modern airports. Not to mention the pain and cost of acquiring land in many coastal urban areas. We cannot simply tear down an old airport and build a new one on the same spot, as that would require going without an airport for several years. So many places have no choice but to keep performing minor cosmetic refreshes to buildings built for 1950's aviation. Lately, the airlines have been raking in such obscene profits that they are paying to renovate the terminals on their own, as is the case at LAX right now.
And on the subject of LAX, I used to despise it like everyone else, but I have come to realize just how remarkable it really is. The amount of traffic (including a much higher than average percentage of wide-body aircraft) that this airport effectively manages to handle on a very small footprint is truly incredible. It is also an anomaly in that with GE and/or Clear, one can get from the curb to the gate in literally a few minutes. Even without priority access, the terminals are mostly all connected and very close, so one could easily just walk to the next terminal over if the security lines are excessive in one terminal (as I have done countless times). The car/shuttle traffic between the terminals can get pretty bad, but one could easily walk from any terminal to another, as I have also done numerous times. TBIT is undoubtedly one of the nicest terminal in the USA, and just about every other terminal is in the process of being renovated or replaced. The people-mover will be opening in 2023, and that should solve a lot of the traffic headaches and open it up to transit. I have been to dozens of airports of all sizes on every inhabited continent, and the more I visit, the more I appreciate the functionality and simplicity of LAX.
Given our aversion to taxes and government spending for anything domestically (wars, oil subsidies, and foreign aid seem to have carte blanche when it comes to spending), there is simply not adequate funding to make the kind of capital improvements to build modern airports. Not to mention the pain and cost of acquiring land in many coastal urban areas. We cannot simply tear down an old airport and build a new one on the same spot, as that would require going without an airport for several years. So many places have no choice but to keep performing minor cosmetic refreshes to buildings built for 1950's aviation. Lately, the airlines have been raking in such obscene profits that they are paying to renovate the terminals on their own, as is the case at LAX right now.
And on the subject of LAX, I used to despise it like everyone else, but I have come to realize just how remarkable it really is. The amount of traffic (including a much higher than average percentage of wide-body aircraft) that this airport effectively manages to handle on a very small footprint is truly incredible. It is also an anomaly in that with GE and/or Clear, one can get from the curb to the gate in literally a few minutes. Even without priority access, the terminals are mostly all connected and very close, so one could easily just walk to the next terminal over if the security lines are excessive in one terminal (as I have done countless times). The car/shuttle traffic between the terminals can get pretty bad, but one could easily walk from any terminal to another, as I have also done numerous times. TBIT is undoubtedly one of the nicest terminal in the USA, and just about every other terminal is in the process of being renovated or replaced. The people-mover will be opening in 2023, and that should solve a lot of the traffic headaches and open it up to transit. I have been to dozens of airports of all sizes on every inhabited continent, and the more I visit, the more I appreciate the functionality and simplicity of LAX.
Dec 29, 2022, 7:53 am
#62
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 9
Even smaller cities in Europe have airports that are completely modernized and have nice duty free stores and other shops. I was recently in CDG and the duty free section of the terminal is practically like an indoor shopping mall. Perfume from just about every brand you could think of and a bigger selection than most malls have.
Then you return home to a place like terminal 5 at ORD and it feels like you are stepping back in time to the 80s.
Then you return home to a place like terminal 5 at ORD and it feels like you are stepping back in time to the 80s.
Dec 29, 2022, 8:12 am
#65
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Dec 29, 2022, 8:20 am
#66
Join Date: May 2022
Posts: 155
Utilitarian airports are just fine. Filthy ones - not so much. NYC area airports (old LGA, current EWR terminal A ...), until recently, belonged to the 2nd category. NY/NJ Port Authority has been pouring enormous amounts of money into the modernization projects and the results are beginning to show. LGA is good now. JFK terminal 8 is pretty darn good. New EWR terminal A is opening in January. New JFK Terminal One & Terminal 6 and new EWR Terminal B projects are about to get started. AirTrain at EWR is being redesigned too.
I can live without SIN Changi and Doha kind of airports in the US. They help their countries to project themselves. We don't need that here. Having said that, many US airports are beginning to show their age and need some renovation. We are a democracy and the democratic processes tend to be tedious. I would rather live with that than dictators pushing through their fancy projects over the heads of common folk.
I can live without SIN Changi and Doha kind of airports in the US. They help their countries to project themselves. We don't need that here. Having said that, many US airports are beginning to show their age and need some renovation. We are a democracy and the democratic processes tend to be tedious. I would rather live with that than dictators pushing through their fancy projects over the heads of common folk.
Dec 29, 2022, 8:44 am
#68
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Roanoke, VA
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Posts: 2,436
I occasionally make the drive to fly out of RDU - it is a very nice airport!
Dec 29, 2022, 8:46 am
#69
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 483
The US has plenty of airports that have recently modernized or are in the process of doing so. Just off the top of my head: SFO is almost done with a total rehaul of its terminals, ORD is embarking on some major renovations after spending billions on its runway alignments, LAX is slowly rehabing all its terminals, DFW has the very nice Terminal D, LGA is doing a total rehaul, both of DTWs terminals are great, SEA just opened a brand new spot, IND is a fantastic modern facility, PSP is small and modern, SAN is finishing a rehaul, and so on. Sure there are some mediocre airports in terms of design (ATL, some DFW ones, DEN outside of the Jeppesen building) and some need some big updates (CLT, PHX, EWR) but that's the same over in Europe. Most US airports were built up during the booms of the 70s and 80s so they are now hitting the end of their useful lives. Many Asian airports are great because most of them were built much more recently.
More to the OP's point, I find the giant shopping malls of European airports abhorrent and hope that trend never takes hold in the US. Airports should have nice airy check-in areas, efficient security lines, good layouts to get to and from gates, options for food, clean and spacious bathrooms, big waiting areas with natural lighting, spaces for lounge operators, and easy access to transit. The only thing I'm envious when it comes to European airports is the last item, but that goes hand in hand with our generally awful city transit (outside of NYC which, ironically, still hasn't figured out how to connect its closest airport to rail)
More to the OP's point, I find the giant shopping malls of European airports abhorrent and hope that trend never takes hold in the US. Airports should have nice airy check-in areas, efficient security lines, good layouts to get to and from gates, options for food, clean and spacious bathrooms, big waiting areas with natural lighting, spaces for lounge operators, and easy access to transit. The only thing I'm envious when it comes to European airports is the last item, but that goes hand in hand with our generally awful city transit (outside of NYC which, ironically, still hasn't figured out how to connect its closest airport to rail)
Dec 29, 2022, 8:54 am
#70
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Roanoke, VA
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Dec 29, 2022, 8:55 am
#71
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 2,094
Even smaller cities in Europe have airports that are completely modernized and have nice duty free stores and other shops. I was recently in CDG and the duty free section of the terminal is practically like an indoor shopping mall. Perfume from just about every brand you could think of and a bigger selection than most malls have.
Then you return home to a place like terminal 5 at ORD and it feels like you are stepping back in time to the 80s.
Then you return home to a place like terminal 5 at ORD and it feels like you are stepping back in time to the 80s.
If you want to complain about US airports (which is a legitimate complaint), try comparing US intercity railroad stations to European ones. The comparison is even worse for the US on that point.
Dec 29, 2022, 9:03 am
#72
Join Date: May 2010
Location: TPA
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Posts: 2,209
Airlines have some power, but they can't stop an airport from raising those fees.
Dec 29, 2022, 9:25 am
#75
formerly rt23456p
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 1,210
Never been to SIN sadly but HKG is a great airport. The presence of a shopping mall doesn't make the airport bad in and of itself, I just think it's entirely unnecessary, obnoxious, and an overall net negative. We are already bombarded by giant video screen ads from check in to baggage claim on top of credit card infomercials on board, do we really need more blatant consumerism that we have to walk through just to get to our gates?
MCI is similar although I think there may be a couple of gates behind the checkpoints. For US airports I believe it was the pre-2001 mindset where you could just breeze through security immediately before your flight. I think DFW used to have gate specific security as well but has since been changed. Ex-US KUL also has gates with their own security, cant remember if its just domestic or all gates. No idea what the rationale is for KUL and SIN but maybe they figured its easier to spread out security for anyone connecting vs having a central location? Doesnt really bother me except on the occasions when your flight is delayed and youre trapped at the gate.
CAN T2 have international dep/arr on separate floors while the domestic on a single floor
They're forgettable airports. China and India have a lot of new, giant, glass-and-steel behemoths that look appealing upon landing -- that is, if the air pollution isn't so bad that day. But take a walk around them, and there will be a lot of cut corners such as chipped tiles or doors that don't close 100%, smoking in the restrooms (more of a China thing), crappy monochromatic food choices, and zero customer service. The U.S. is the same, just without the glass-and-steel bit.