10 Things Airports Won't Tell You

4. “You’ll love our airport—if you can get here.”

GETTING TO THE airport is a real pain in many cities. Even if they’re not located way outside of town (as many are), few U.S. airports are accessible by convenient public transportation. In fact, as of the end of 2008, only eight of the 20 largest U.S. airports were served by trains that ended within walking distance of terminals. Meanwhile, potential funding has gone toward expanding parking in some airports, and cities like Los Angeles have reportedly gotten flak from taxi and shuttle bus groups, which many advocates say have been big behind-the-scenes sources of opposition to airport public transit.

A few airports are particularly inconvenient to reach. For example, getting from Washington Dulles outside of D.C. to Capitol Hill (26 miles) costs about $54 in a taxi. And while more airports are getting the message and building trains, it’s slow going. (Dulles’s Metrorail, for example, won’t be complete until 2013.) Until then, Web sites like Hitchsters.com—which lets users enter flight information and pairs them with other travelers and a car service—have stepped in to help passengers share rides.

5. “We’re cashing in on advertising.”

WHEN YOU WALK through most airports, you’ll see advertising banners hanging from the ceiling and hear televisions blabbing ads from nearly every gate. You may even see ads lining the bins where you put your shoes and belt to go through security, as well as on baggage carousels. Indeed, advertising in U.S. and Canadian airports is a booming $243 million market as of 2008. According to a study of 29 airports, advertising revenue rose 36 percent from 2006 to 2008. And it’s only expected to increase, as airports scramble to replace revenue lost in the recession, when passenger numbers dropped.

Advertisers are more than happy to pitch their products in airport terminals to their captive, often affluent passengers. A 2007 study by market-research firm Arbitron shows frequent fliers are likely to be wealthier than the average American. They also spend less time at home exposed to commercials, thanks to busy schedules. As airports ramp up ads, some observers wonder how much more real estate they can sell off. But the ads don’t phase seasoned traveler Steve Miller. “That’s just life,” he says. “Everybody has to make a buck.”

6. “Wildlife and airports just don’t mix.”

SINCE JANUARY’S emergency landing of U.S. Airways flight 1549 on the Hudson River after birds flew into its engine, more fliers are paying attention to the interaction between wildlife and airports. Deer, coyote and feral pigs are regularly sighted on runways throughout the country. But birds get struck more than any other animal, and such instances have increased in recent years due to heavy flight traffic, quieter two-engine planes and growing populations of birds like Canada geese and wild turkeys.

The Federal Aviation Administration has asked airports with frequent wildlife sightings to design plans to prevent collisions. These typically involve changing the environment, including fencing, downing trees or removing grasses that attract animals. It can also mean moving animals to another location or even killing them, as in the case of Canada geese that lived near John F. Kennedy Airport at the time of the U.S. Airways incident. A spokesperson for the federal Wildlife Services department says the geese were killed because their limited range meant they would continue to plague planes. The goal, she says, is to keep flying safe.

7. “If you think flying’s dangerous, try spending time at an airport.”

DONNA PETROSKI-KNOX of Barnesville, Ohio, vividly remembers hurtling down a corridor in the Port Columbus International Airport on a motorized passenger cart manned by a worker, when it hit a podium and then the wall.

Luckily, all she got was a sore knee. “We could have gotten seriously injured,” says Petroski-Knox. (The airport says cart drivers work for companies contracted by airlines.)

Lots of people are scared of flying, but navigating the airport has its own hazards. Passengers trip over luggage, fall on escalators and occasionally get bumped by motorized carts. Pick-up and drop-off areas are particularly dicey, as cars, cabs and buses weave to and from the curbside. Denver International Airport, for example, estimates it has about one passenger injury or accident per day but says that’s no more common than at other businesses with heavy foot traffic.