"Airport gripes: seats, signs"

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Airport gripes: seats, signs
Relaxed air prevails on day 2 of terminal
By Laura Ruane
The Ft. Meyers (FL) News-Press
 
 
Confusing signs. Too few seats.

These were the two main quibbles as Southwest Florida International Airport
settled into day two at its new passenger terminal Saturday.

Travelers and those who come to greet them say they have trouble spotting
the parking area they want, in time. And once inside the terminal they find
few places to sit in the areas that are open to non-ticketed visitors.

Other than that, it was business as usual.

"Nobody's called; everything must be going fine," said airport spokeswoman
Susan Sanders, when reached late morning at her home.

In front of the terminal's lower level, uniformed workers from Standard
Parking told people which shuttle buses were going to the new parking lots -
and which ones were bound for the old terminal, where people parked prior to
Friday.

Air and motor traffic were light midday at the south Fort Myers airport.
That's a rarity during winter tourist season but typical for September, the
airport's slowest month of the year.

Gone were the jugglers, clowns and steel-drum bands that marked Friday's
debut of the $438-million multibuilding complex.

A relaxed, still-festive air prevailed. Two people who work at the terminal
asked a stranger to snap their photo in front of a sign. In the almost-empty
atrium next to Concourse B, two young girls chirped, "Ein, zwie, drei!"
(One, two, three!) before flinging balsa wood glider planes into the air.

They'd probably skipped out from the line of travelers checking in luggage
for LTU International Airways' return flight to Dusseldorf, Germany. The
queue stretched across half the massive ticketing hall.

Waits at baggage claim areas varied. "I've been here maybe 10 minutes," said
Maggie Lin of St. Louis, as she left with her bag.

"They could be faster. We've waited 25 minutes for the luggage," said Linda
Draughn of Naples, who met a friend arriving on a loaded Delta flight from
Atlanta.

On the terminal's lower level, Steve Tutko interpreted the airport's new
lingo for parking options to a guest. "Daily is long term. Hourly is
short-term," said Tutko, a volunteer staffing a Lee County Visitor &
Convention Bureau information booth.

Hourly parking resides in the parking garage that's across the street from
the terminal. It's an easy walk for most people. The daily lot - formerly
called long-term - is far enough away that most folks will take the free
shuttle bus.

It's not just the wording that throws people. "They need a lot more signs -
and sooner as you enter the airport," said Jean Butler, a licensed shuttle
operator from Port Charlotte. She'd come to the terminal's International
Arrivals section to pick up a couple arriving from Dusseldorf.

Butler missed the turnoff for the commercial curb, and briefly left her car
unattended at the drop-off curb nearest the terminal - a security no-no.

As the wait for passengers emerging from Customs stretched into several
minutes, Butler left the building, took a quick loop around the airport
road, and parked where other shuttle vehicles and taxis waited.

"We've got space, but no chairs," Butler said, leaning against the wall as
she resumed her wait. Nearby, a middle-aged couple sat on a windowsill near
the floor. A young man perched on an overturned plastic paint bucket.

"Somewhere there are chairs waiting to be assembled. Give them a few days,"
said Bill Schuster of Port Charlotte as he leaned on a luggage cart and
waited for his nephew's son. Schuster might be prophetic.

"I've gotten a lot of ideas about putting in additional seating," airport
director Bob Ball said at a news media briefing Friday.

"I see things we want to change and tweak," Ball added, "but if these are
the main problems, life is wonderful."

Be there: Sights and sounds of the new Midfield Terminal
 http://www.news-press.com/assets/mov/A4819699.MOV


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