COVID-19 pandemic a good look for airports, especially Eugene
After more than a decade of traveling by air twice a month, I shut myself down when the pandemic hit. Most of you did the same, according to airport counts. Earlier this month, I took my first trip in almost 2 1/2 years. I visited seven different airports. I can report that most of them gleam like never before.
After two-plus years of greatly reduced use and federal support, every bit of deferred maintenance appears to have been done. For the first time since it mattered, airports had as many electrical outlets as there were travelers who needed them. And they all worked!
Gate attendants and TSA workers appeared rested, well trained and in good spirits. None had that far-away look and bedraggled appearance that comes from overwork. There was a spring in their collective step, a lilt in their intercom announcements. The pandemic has temporarily right-sized air travel for all concerned.
Several airports have switched to larger trays that better fit the x-ray machines, replacing the tubs that must have been repurposed from stockyards for feeding cattle. I even saw a system in place — in Newark, I believe — that automatically conveyed the empty trays back to the start of the line.
I don’t claim to be impartial on this matter, but Eugene has even more spit-and-polish than the other airports I saw. Almost every pillar was clad with reminders about Oregon 22. Thousands of track stars and fans will be passing through those hallways in less than two months. Our airport is ready to make a good first impression.
The airport has a new parking policy. The first 30 minutes are now free. This encourages drivers to park their car when waiting for arriving passengers or lingering for a long good-bye. Fewer motors idling and fewer drivers circling reduces noise and emissions.
It’s as if every airline and airport executive was given a sabbatical to renew their spirit and vision, gaining new clarity about the big picture. Eugene’s separate pick-up area for Uber and Lyft customers lacks a bench or a pavilion cover from the rain, but I’m ready to believe they’ve already been ordered.
Inside the terminal, the Eugene Public Library has installed a darling short story dispenser at the top of the escalator. Its colorful display begs travelers to pause for a moment and hit a button for a locally written story, just for their enjoyment. The story is spit out like an overenthusiastic ATM receipt to be read during an idle moment.
I knew about the machine because library staff asked me to submit an entry, but I was still surprised to see it. I hope the airport staff will test several locations before settling on its permanent home. Airports create a hurry-up-and-wait freneticism. Only near the terminal gates are people reliably reposed.
Finally, the people watching was better than ever. Hesitant but not overwhelmed, grateful to be moving, but glad for fewer people doing the same. The masks made it easier to project my own feelings onto strangers.
Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday and Sunday for The Register-Guard and archives past columns at www.dksez.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Why the COVID-19 pandemic a good look for airports
