Guess what, mango, what's that will? So I know you and I both fly a lot, and if there's one thing I definitely know about you, it's that.
You love flying, right because I just have the best travel luck in the world, right.
You know. I don't know if this is something we've mentioned on the show, but it's actually pretty baffling to me, like how bad your travel luck has been over the years. Like there are times you'll be flying out of Chicago or something and then I'll check in with you just to see if you've made it home, and you'll say something like I'm in Milwaukee. It's a long story, and I don't know anybody that can pull that off in
the way that you do. Or there was even the time we were flying out of Cleveland at the same time. Both of us were there, we were on different sides of the airport. Now, somehow my flight took off and on the other side of the airport they told your plane that the airport was closing down because of the wind, I think.
Which is a true story, like that really happened. In fact, sometimes when you are write me to see where I am, I don't even want to respond. Yes, as long as it's entertaining for others.
Oh, it definitely is entertaining. But you know, I was thinking about the fact that you and I are most often traveling solo and for work purposes. And you know, it's funny how when you do something so frequently, it's pretty easy just to go through the motions not really think about what's going on around you. And you know, part of that maybe because half the time, I know, I'm flying at such a crazy early hour, and I'm
kind of half asleep when I'm there. But as you know, last week, Georgia and I flew up to Toronto so that I could officiate a wedding because apparently that's what I do now, and it's been nice to hear from some listeners. I guess you made the offer that I could officiate other weddings, and so I'm trying to decide whether I want to sign on to do this or not.
But you know, we had a bit more time than usual in the Atlanta airport, so we spend a little time walking around, and when you're not rushing to your next flight, spending time in the country's busiest airport actually makes for some pretty fantastic people watching and so you know, we spent time looking out the window as those luggage
cars rushed around in between the terminals. We watched people run off the trains to their next flights, and then a couple of times we just sat down and watched people flying by and try to make guesses on why certain passengers were going to different locations.
Yeah, I mean it's a fun game to play. You know, when I'm walking through airport terminals, I'll often see like an airport employee come walking out of one of those personnel only sections, and I always want to go behind that door just to see what's back there.
Oh me too. I mean, it'd probably be disappointing if you actually got to go there. But yeah, so many times you see that happen, you're like, what is it? What's happening is such a mystery. But you know, we started talking about just how many people work at the nation's biggest airports and how many people you interact with before you even get on a plane. You've got the people behind the check in desk to TSA, the people
working at the restaurants, to gate agents, customs. I mean, so many people, and then all the people behind the scenes controlling the schedules, handling bags and just generally keeping the place running efficiently. I mean, we're talking thousands of people in places like the Atlanta Airport, and that's what God is thinking. You know, what are some of the secrets behind how an airport operates? And what do we
not know? And of course what are some of the strangest things TSA has pulled out of passenger bags in security. So let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend mangesh Hot Ticketer and on the other side of the soundproof glass doing his best impersonation. Now, you guys may not know this about Tristan, but he does incredible impersonations. Oh so good. Well, today's is a
really special one. It's of the carpet from the Portland International Airport. That's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil. Now I do need to clarify here. Tristan is not lying on the floor with a rug over him. He does that sometimes, but not today. He's not just doing that to pretend to be a carpet. He actually is decked out head to toe and clothing based on that old carpet design from the Portland Airport. Really creative idea.
Which honestly, it doesn't sound that much less weird, right.
No it doesn't. But this is just the kind of stuff that Tristan does. He's that committed. But actually he was telling me earlier what this is all about. So basically, the Portland Airport, or PDX as you might call it, they added this new carpet to its terminals back in nineteen eighty seven. Now, because this was in the eighties, the carpet had this kind of funky and geometric design with this teal background and all these blue and purple
and red shapes repeating all over it. A very loud carpet. Anyway, the carpet stuck around until I think two thousand and six, and that's when PDX decided it was finally time to remodel. Now, they started ripping up the carpet and people went ballistic, and that is not an overstatement. I mean they were grieving the loss of this carpet. They decided to take to social media and just as a way to pay tribute to the airport carpet, and they were calling for
it to be preserved. There was a Facebook page for people to post pictures and stories of all the great times that had standing on that carpet, and somebody made a Twitter account and began posting from the carpet's point of view. These are all things that actually happened. And you know, some folks even memorialized the carpet by having its design tattooed on their arms. And of course, it wasn't long after that that the beloved carpet design started appearing on all sorts of merchandise.
And you know, just looking at Tristan, you can see that they made PDX carpet t shirts, sweatpants, socks, shoes, even a headband.
Yeah, I know. And Tristan was telling me about all this. It got me curious about what other bizarre airport stories and secrets are out there. And so that's what today's show is all about. You know, we'll take a look at how airports function, and along the way, we'll also check out some of the odd ball amenities that different airports offer, as well as some of the weirdest stuff that people have tried to slip past security. So let's get started. But where do you want to begin mango.
So actually, I don't want to get off the airport carpet fact just yet, because one of the things I didn't notice until Gabe pointed it out to me is that most airports have linoleum or tile in the check in areas and all through security, but then when you get to the flight gates, the floor suddenly switches to carpet. And there's actually a reason behind this, So airport designers use this trick as a way to make holding areas
feel more relaxing. So not only does the soft carpet help bring the feel of a living room into the airport, it also helps muffle the noise from people's roller bags and footsteps. But the biggest reason is that all this works together to make past and just feel less stressed out.
Yeah it makes sense, but I mean, carpets aren't the only thing designers are thinking about when they design these airport spaces. I mean, another handy tool they use to make us feel comfortable is called wayfinding, or that process designers use to make the airports easier to navigate or as easy as possible. And one big part of this,
of course, is the signage. And there's so much careful planning that goes into that not just where to place the signs, but how they're designed, how they're laid out, and for instance, the font on the signs needs to be legible from a distance and easy for non native language speakers to decipher. Now, amazingly, seventy five percent of all airports in the world use just one of three different typefaces, all of which are sanserah, meaning they don't
have the little tails on the letters. And because I know you're curious, those three in demand fonts are Frutiger, which was designed specifically for airports, Clearview, which is the same one used on highway signs on the US, and
of course Helvetica. By the way, as a side note here, I learned just this week that there actually is an airline called Helvetic Airlines, which is a small airline out of Switzerland where Helvetica typeface originated, and in a truly weird turn of events, the airline does not use Helvetica for its logo.
That's super weird. So what do they use?
I don't know what it's called exactly, and it's kind of this squat and italic font for some reason.
Huh. That almost feels scandalous to not use helvetica there. But another way of wayfinding that I hadn't thought about are all the works of art that are placed around the airport for you. And these can be murals or sculptures or sometimes even interactive exhibits. But whatever form it takes, airport art is never there just to look pretty or
to help passengers relax. That's because designers are actually thinking of them as landmarks, like a quick way to establish a point of reference for passengers as they make their way through what are otherwise these monotonous terminals. So if you're ever doing some exploring at the airport and you need to find your way back to your gate, just look for the big bronze bear or whatever to help point the way.
Well, since you bring up airport art, I do want to tell you about maybe the strangest and creepiest examples I came across. And by the way, if you want to see these, it's pretty convenient because you just go to one airport. It's the Denver International Airport.
So that actually doesn't surprise me, because what's weird is that there are all these conspiracy theories about that specific airport, like the runways are all pinwheel shaped, and some people claim they're meant to look like swastikas. Some people think there's a secret underground city and the tunnels beneath the terminals. You know, it is super weird, But I don't think I've heard about the artwork. Can you run me through that?
Well, you're in for a treat with this, because some of this stuff is just off the wall. So to start on the road that leads to the terminal, there's this enormous thirty two foot tall sculpture of a blue mustang rearing up in anger. But it's not just the size or the stance that makes this thing so scary. And that's because at night, the horse's eyes actually glow bright red. How strange is this? But if that isn't enough to convince you the horse is pure evil, just
listen to this. Back in two thousand and six, when the statue was still being sculpted, a nine thousand pounds piece of stone broke free and tragically fell on the sculpture as he was working. And you know, sadly he died from this not too long after. So not only is this giant blue mustang terrifying, to behold, it also killed its creator, and that's why the locals call him Blucifer.
Wow. So I'm actually a little afraid to ask, but I think you said the horse was just one example.
Well, the art inside the airport gets even weirder than Blucifer. So, for instance, at baggage Claim, there are these two stone gargles keeping watch over the luggage carousels, and together the pair of forms a sculpture known as Notre Denver, which is pretty cutesy, named for a couple of winged demons that are pretty weird looking. But probably the most unsettling piece of art in the whole place is mural. It's right there inside the airport and it's called Children of
the World Dream of Peace. Now this title sounds haarmwarming, and you think, oh, this must be a really nice thing, But just listen to this description that I found from Atlas Obscure. It says in the mural, a gargantuane figure in flowing olive green military garb and a gas mask wields an assault rifle in his left hand while stabbing a dove with the cutlass in his right. A line
of shrouded despairing figures cowers in his wake. It's just what you want to see before boarding an international flight.
What is going on at this airport?
I do think somebody might have missed the memo about how airport artists supposed to be soothing, because that's definitely not soothing.
Yeah. So here's something even scarier than demons and killer horses. So you know, the plastic bins we use to unload all our stuff on the way through security.
Definitely.
Yeah. So, according to a recent study out of Finland, those bins actually contain a whole host of respiratory viruses, including germs known to cause both the common cold and flew and in fact, researchers found that the bins contain more germ samples than any other tested part of the airport, which includes elevator buttons, flight check in machines, even toilet handles. And while these findings were specific to the Helsinki Airport, other studies have turned up similar results in a lot
of different airports. And unfortunately, those bins just don't get cleaned that often.
You know. It's one of those things that most of the time, my wife Georgia is very clean about the things she does, but sometimes when we travel, she takes a pillow and she puts it into one of those bins when we're traveling, and it is the grossest thing that anyone has ever done. I just can't handle it. But it's you know, I actually love these facts that confirm my suspicion that everything I come into contact with
is filthy. And so those are just great stats. I mean, it's like when we talked about how the trade tables on airplanes are also super gross, I mean grosser than anything.
So I vaguely remember this, but can you nudge my memory a little?
Of course, I have the fact right here. I keep them with me at all times, just in case anybody needs to be reminded. But this was from a twenty fifteen study from travel Math, and it showed that trade tables on the back of cabin seats typically contain over two thousand colony forming units per square inch. Now these are also known as CFUs. Now, to put that in perspective, the average household toilet average household toilet has only around
one hundred and seventy CFUs. Even the flush buttons for airport toilets only have about two hundred and sixty CFUs. So that's two thousand on these trade tables compared to two hundred and sixty on a flush button on an airport toilet.
It is so weird that trade tables are that filthy. So I actually remember this great scene in Rolldahl's book Going Solo, it's his biography, where he's on this boat and he's watching this woman eat an orange with a knife and fork, and he's just kind of amazed by how nimble she is with it, and he asks her why she's using a knife and fork, and she goes on this big about how dirty our hens are and
how she would never use her hens. And I think that's why whenever I touched the tray table from now on, it's going to be with a knife and fork. That's a smart way.
Of approach it. All Right, Well, I feel like we rushed onto the plane too quickly and need to come back to the airport. So what do you say we take a minute to talk about some of the deeply weird things that people's stuff in those dirty bins you were talking about. I mean, there are all kinds of strange stories there about people smuggling everything from human remains to ninja throwing stars and all of this in their carry on bags. But the most interesting examples to me
are all the weird things that scientists stow. I mean, it's so funny to read some of these. I actually just listen to some of the stuff that TSA has turned up in recent years. All right, A cooler full of turtle embryos, sure, several bottles of monkey pee, the shin bone of a giant groundsloth, fifty vials of freeze dried milk from an Antarctic fur seal, and of course a three D printed model of a dolphin vagina. I mean, you can't make this stuff up.
That's so weird. But I'm guessing the scientists must have like legit reasons for carrying this stuff through, right, Like does security just give him a pass? Yeah?
I mean most of the time they do. And most of these things don't really break the rules. They're just odd and usually require some sort of explanation. For for instance, when the antarctic researcher with all the seal milk was stopped, he just had to explain what all these vials of white powder really were.
Yeah, I mean, if you're taking a lot of white powder on a plane, you're kind of asking to get stopped.
But well, you know, once he had clued them in there, there really wasn't that much of a problem. And in fact, as the guy later explained, quote, some of the officers just wanted to wave me on, but others wanted me to stay and answer their questions like how do you milk a first seal? And so he pointed out, that's a nice way to engage in a discussion about science. But he also almost missed his flight.
So I actually love these types of interactions, Like I was reading about this one time a few years ago when this asked physicists flew to Fargo, North Dakota, and he had his Nobel Physics Prize with him. So his name is Brian Schmidt apparently won the prize back in
twenty eleven for code discovering dark energy. But anyway, he was going to Fargo to visit his grandmom and she asked him to bring along his Nobell and just in case other listeners don't know, a Nobel prize kind of looks like an Olympic medal, like it's made of gold, weighs about half a pound.
It's pretty big.
So Schmidt has this giant medal in his bag, and because it's made of gold, it actually absorbs all the X rays and it just looked like a big black mystery object to the monitors. So security asked him, like, what's in it? And he tells him it's a gold medal. And then they opened the bag and inspect it and they're like, uh, who gave this to you? To where Schmidt says, and he gives an honest answer, the King of Sweden. Of course, the King.
Of Sweden, as you do you know, so did the agent just let him through or what?
No, they were totally suspicious. So then the officers had all these follow ups, like they asked like, why did the king give this to you? And so Schmidt has continued to tell the truths. He says, because I helped discover that the expansion rate of the universe was accelerating. And as he's saying this, you know, the officers are looking more and more angry. He gets sense that they
were losing their patience. So he finally explained the whole thing in detail, like the science, how he won this award, that the king presented it to him, all that, and even then they had one more question for him, which was, why were you in Fargo?
I mean, I guess that's a pretty fair question under the circumstances. But all right, well, now that we made our way through security, what do you say we stretch our legs a little bit and check out a few of the more surprising amenities the airport seems to offer these days. But before we get to that, let's take a quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius and
we're talking about airports, all right, Mango. So you and I fly fairly often, as we said before, and I know one thing we've both noticed is that airports offer a much wider array of amenities than they used to. You know, you see things like massage chairs, which honestly is so weird to me to be walking through a terminal and look over and see somebody just with their eyes closed and a massage. I just don't feel like that's a place I could relax. But you definitely see
lots of those. You see sleeping pods and day spas, made to order sushi like This is a huge list of luxuries that are involved in some of these airports, and it seems to get longer every year, and so I've assembled my own little list here, but I actually want to hear from you first. So what are some of the most unexpected services you've come across during your travels?
So one of the things I really like is that you see more and more playgrounds for kids in airports, and it's been really nice to be able to like let the kids run around on these little jungle gyms and let them be loud and crazy for a bit before you have to, like, you know, reel it all in when you get on a plane. But as a solo traveler, probably my favorite trend that's been gaining steam
states side is airport movie theaters. And this is something I think started back in twenty fourteen, which is when the airport in Minneapolis Saint Paul opened this free around the clock screening room near Gate C eighteen.
Huh, I've been there, but I actually haven't noticed that before, So catching a movie it sounds like a fun way to kill pine before a flight, but you probably have to get there pretty early to be able to watch the whole thing, right.
So it's not actually a problem in this case. The Minnesota screening room only shows short films and documentaries by filmmakers from the Upper Midwest, so in addition to providing some free entertainment, they're really a way to showcase this local talent. And this approach isn't unique to the Minneapolis airport either, So last spring, the airport in Portland opened
its first microcinema and concourse, see it's similar. Where ticketed passengers have made it through security, they're free to grab a spot in this seventeen seat theater and cast short films by filmmakers from Portland. But maybe the most unique airport theater is the one that opened last August at Miami International. And unlike the others I mentioned, this one
doesn't show a recent films shot by local artists. Instead, the airport actually uses this bank of old flight monitors to show all kinds of vintage footage they found in and around the airport. So you might see like Miami Family's home movies from the nineteen twenties on one reel, or a reel of different celebrities who've arrived at the airport between the fifties and eighties. Plus there are all
these quirky vintage promotional films for Florida sprinkled in. It is pretty great, and it just seems like a really cool project and a fun way to see all the changes the airport and the surrounding community have gone through over the years.
That does sound pretty neat. I feel like I need to check that out the next time I'm in Miami. But all right, Well, for my turn, I want to talk about something I know you'll love, and that's the menagerie of therapy animals that some airports now keep on hand as really a way to help calm frazzle passengers. So let's get the boring ones out of the way.
I guess I should mention that there are more than thirty airports around the US that now have therapy dogs, as well as a few that also have cats and even rabbits.
Oh, what's a therapy rabbit.
Well, it's a therapeutic rabbit. Actually, I have no idea. I guess it's just calmer than your typical rabbit and less skiddish. But way back to the idea of these other animals. So there are plenty of common therapy animals scattered in airports across the country, but there's only one airport here with its own pot bellied pig, and that's in San Francisco. Now, I've flown to San Francisco many times. I know you have two. I have never seen that, have you?
No, I have not seen a potbellid pig there.
Yeah. The pig's name is Leelu, and back in twenty sixteen she joined the airport's wag Brigade, which, as you could probably guess, as a group of specially trained therapy animals that the airport keeps on staff. But Leelu doesn't just sit there like a lump while you pet her, like say a therapy rabbit might do. Leelu is actually a highly skilled performer. So get this, she has not one, not two, but ten different tricks in her repertoire, and
including one where she plays a miniature piano. But you know, like any pig diva, she also brings a complete wardrobe with her, and so her vast costume collection includes, among other outfits, a sparkly pink too too, and of course a pilot uniform with a hat.
Which sounds adorable, But you know, I kigs aren't your thing. You might actually have better luck at the airport in hebrin Kentucky. So folks that originally planned to use dogs when they launched the therapy animal program in twenty sixteen, but in the end they went with something much more
unique and also more local. So the airport got in touch with a nearby nonprofit that happened to run a miniature horse therapy program, and after a few visits, the airport decided to ditch the dogs and just bring many
horses to the airport twice a month instead. And as you can imagine, you know, the prospect of hurting multiple horses through the security lines was pretty daunting, So the horses are usually kept in the ticketing area during the visits, and even if you aren't flying anywhere, you can still swing by and pet some therapy horses.
It's like a stable full of little Sebastian It's like a fun airport to go to. But yeah, it's funny this stuff happens in the US because I typically only hear about these kinds of programs at foreign airports, like, for instance, I read that the Shippell Airport in Amsterdam has all kinds of jealousy inducing amenities. They've got a fully stocked airport library, a museum showcasing art from the Dutch masters, and probably coolest of all a team of
concierge robots. And don't even get me started on the airport in Singapore.
So I've actually been to the Singapore airport. It was in the nineties, and even back then it was unreal, like if you had a layover, Singapore would actually give you, like I want to say, it was like a forty five minute or an hour long tour of the country and then bring you back to the airport and whisky through security. It also had like amazing public showers and these super clean stalls, and there was this garden with birds in it.
Yeah, except that it's actually gardens plural, like the first one was built in the nineteen eighties, I think. But now there are whopping ten gardens that are spread across the airport's four different terminals, and altogether they contain over half a million plants from nearly three hundred different species. It's pretty absurd, Like they have this dedicated cactus garden,
one with just sunflowers, another that's full of orchids. But I think my favorite has to be this two story, open air, thirty five hundred square foot butterfly garden in Terminal three. And apparently there are more than a thousand tropical butterflies that call this garden home at any given time. And if you're not into butterflies, the garden is still worth a visit because it also contains a twenty foot tall waterfall.
Wow. I mean that was definitely not there when I was there. But you know, we had a significant layover when I was at the Singapore Airport, and I have never been to another airport where I wouldn't have minded it waiting for like a flight delay. You know, the food was great, the place was great, it was well lit, it was it was really gorgeous.
Yeah, I'd love to visit there sometime. And apparently you're not the only one who feels this way. Actually, according to the World air Awards, which is apparently a thing. In twenty eighteen, the Singapore Airport was voted the world's best airport for the sixth year in a row. And there's a pretty steep competition out there. So at this point, I'm not sure what it would take to beat Singapore.
So I do think that they have one feature that could knock them out of the top spot, and that is rocking chairs.
Wait, I think you missed the part where I said Singapore Airport has a twenty foot indoor waterfall. I'm pretty sure that tops rocking chairs.
Well, I think some cities prefer there. Maybe he's a little less showy, thank you very much, Or at least that was my takeaway after learning that over fifty airports around the US now have a fleet of rockers set up in their terminals.
You know, now that you mentioned that, it's something I've noticed a lot lately, especially when I'm passing through airports here in the South. I mean, it feels like Charlotte has had them forever, But maybe that's part of what's going on there. Like Southern folks just like the airport to feel a little more like their front porch.
Maybe. Yeah, I mean, I think you're probably half right, because it's not just Southerners who liked the rockers. You can actually find them in airports as far west as Seattle and San Diego. But you know, that front porch field you mentioned is definitely a big part of the appeal. In fact, the whole trend seems to have started thanks to a temporary art exhibit called Porch Setting, And you're absolutely right. It was featured at the airport in Charlotte,
North Carolina. And this was way back in nineteen ninety seven. And so the way it worked was they had all these giant photographs of different front porches with rock and chairs on them, and then in front of the photos they put actual rock and chairs, kind of like props to make the exhibit a little more interactive. But when the exhibit finished its run and the chairs were taken away,
people got super upset. You know. It was just like with that carpet in Portland, Like passengers had grown so fond of these airport rockers, and once the public outcry started, the amenities manager not only brought the chairs back, he also added even more of them.
I mean, it's fascinating to see what kinds of things people get attached to, and at airports of all places. But I'm curious, though, because what you just outline was a pretty specific chain of events. I doubt all these other airports had their own rocking chair exhibits or whatever, but how did they wind up with them?
Right? So, for the most part, it seems like people who worked at one airport started noticing the chairs at other airports while they were traveling, and then they just decided to copy the idea. But here's the best part. All those rockers spread across fifty some airports like they all come from the same company. It's called Troutman Chairs, and it's co owned by a husband and wife who have basically become the go to supplier for airport rocking chairs.
Wait, seriously, like, what a bizarre market to Domino also had they pulled this off?
Well, the company's based in North Carolina, which is where the trend got started, so they were the ones who built the chairs for that exhibit in ninety seven, and then over the years, whenever one airport manager asked about the rockers at a different airport, they're always pointed right back to Troutman Chairs. But the other cool thing I read is a theory on why these chairs were a hit with passengers in the first place. And this is
the explanation that the amenities manager in North Carolina gave. Quote, airports tend to be such a fast paced environment it could be overwhelming for people who aren't seasoned travelers. The rocker is a yin to that yang. You're controlling the rocker, where a lot of the time in an airport you're not controlling your environment. It's a nice pause button in a hectic environment.
It definitely is, and you can see that when you travel through Charlotte and you see all the people sitting there. In fact, I can remember when we were traveling so much in our mental f loss days, and our old designer Winslow, and I would travel through that airport all the time. We got so used to knowing what was in every spot in that airport that we could use
code for the different terminals. And there was this barbecue restaurant where we ate one time, and it was not the best dish of barbecue, and it was very wet for some reason. So whenever I would check in with Winslow when he was traveling, sometimes he would just text back wet barbecue, and I knew that meant he was in Terminal E in the Charlotte Airport. But uh, but
back to the idea of these rocking chairs. I mean, you know, he's absolutely right about airports being hectic, and that's actually something I do think we should talk about in a little bit more detail. But before we get to that, let's take one more quick break.
You listen to Part Time Genius, and we're talking about the special kind of anxiety that people feel at airports. Okay, well, so one thing I noticed while looking through our research is that society actually used to have a much more romantic view of airports than we do today. Like if you look back at the mid twentieth century, when commercial air travel was just you know, taking off, thank you Tristan,
people had a very rosy, optimistic view of flying. A trip to the airport didn't fill you with dread because airports were still seen as dynamic, forward looking places. But that's definitely not what most of us see them as today. So I'm curious, why do you think that happened?
Well, you know, I would think a big part of this is the massive uptick and security that we've seen since the nineteen seventies. And I think we covered this a bit in our Golden Age of Hijacking episode. But airport's first added metal detectors in the seventies, and this was of course as a way to thwart hijackers, and ever since then, we've watched the security process at airports
gradually grow more strict and more complicated. And while tighter regulations are needed in some cases, I think part of the fallout from them is that a lot of people feel really stressed at the airport. And that's even before you factor in other changes that have negatively impacted the airport experience. Like you know how much dingier airlines are
compared to just twenty years or so ago. And there used to be free meals on short flights for all classes, and then it was restricted to long flights, and now it's really only international if you're flying coach. You've also got the baggage fees that have gone up, and seat fees keep going up, and people are getting bumped from flights left and right, and so this kind of stuff,
you know, people are now associated with flying. And you can tell too, like last year, Americans gave airlines lower marks on customer satisfaction surveys than the US Postal Service. And not only that, airlines were in the bottom six for the least like industries in America, and they were right there with stuff like health insurance and TV and internet providers. I mean, that's not great company.
Definitely not. But I do think you're right that tighter security and hidden costs are kind of what robbed airports of their luster. I was reading this article in Slate about the current state of the aviation industry, and they said, you can basically divide the perception of airports into three phases. The first was when the airports were this icon of progress, which is the period I mentioned earlier, probably from like
the fifties through the sixties. And the second phase would maybe be the seventies through the mid nineties, and that's when the airports felt what Slate put like another stale waiting room of modern life.
I mean, that's probably about how I feel about them. So I guess maybe I'm stuck in in phase two right now.
Yeah, and I'm guessing you're not alone. But for everyone else, we're now in the third phase, where the airport has become quote, the marble floored home of our national fear fueled psychosis.
Wow. Wow, it is not pretty when you spell it out like that, but I guess that's not too far off from how a lot of people feel about it. And what's interesting is how airports have responded to the rising anxiety levels among their passengers, Like that's got to be what's prompting all the over the top new amenities and the herds of therapy animals, the art galleries, the
rocking chairs that we talked about. I mean, it's all meant to help calm us down and sort of forget that we're in a place where most of us would rather not be.
Yeah, that sounds right to me, And I think the fact that airport retail is booming right now kind of backs that up. So a lot of people use shopping as a way to curb their anxiety or just brighten their mood in general. You know, we call it retail therapy. And in twenty sixteen, airport retail actually rows a full four percent worldwide, and for the US in Canada, airport retailing is set to rise from a ground four billion dollars in twenty fifteen to just under ten billion dollars
by twenty twenty. That's going to micro Market Monitor, which is a publication for the trade. But you know, that's some seriously impressive sales growth, and i'd bet a lot of it will be thanks to stressed out shopping. You know.
Those figures actually, I guess don't surprise me when you think about because no matter how bad brick and mortar stores start hurting, airport retailers really seem like they're going to be just fine. Because if you think about it. There are more people flying now each year than at any time in history, so your local mall might not be getting that much traffic, but airport retailers have this steady stream at just about any hour of the day.
Yeah, it's a good point. And I was reading about this one bit of airport manager lingo called dwell time. It's basically the time between when a passenger makes it through security and when they board their plane, so you know, all the time during which you could be spending money, and apparently the first six minutes of dwell time are the most lucrative. It's actually called the golden hour because it's supposedly when passengers are feeling their most self indulgent.
I mean that makes sense. You've just gone through security, suffered the indignity of the pat downs. You're just looking for any way to make yourself feel a little bit better.
I guess yeah. Actually it reminds me. I was in the quick X ray thing that they do where you walk into that space and turn and raise your arms and then walk through it, and this guy, I don't know whether he was on a power trip or what, but he started telling me while I was in there to pull up my pants and it is not like I wear low riding pants like, but I had taken off my belt as you do to go through the security thing, and my pants were resting on my hips
and he was like, I said, pull up your pants, and he kept getting louder and louder about it in this situation where you're supposed to keep your hands up in the air and there's this cue forming behind me, and it was so anxiety inducing and it is so weird. It's also one of these situations where you can't talk back right like, because you know if you do, it's only going to escalate the problem. So I hiked my pants up as high as I could waddled out of
this place, and of course what I do next. I bought some candy and magazines, you know, just to get out of that headspace.
But I mean, I guess it's one of those things where he knows that we're getting older, and he just thought by this point, you're almost to that age where your pants should be up to your belly button.
Right, Or maybe he's on the take from these stores just like getting up bus sales. But you know, there are plenty of other reasons to buy things too. People forget to pack things for their trip, like headphones or whatever. Maybe they forget to get someone a gift, and the airport becomes their last chance to save face with a mug or buy some candy.
I have definitely been in that position a few times. And you know, airport retailers are lucky to have this captive audience. You know, their customers are psychologically primed to buy. And it's even more true when you throw incentives like the whole duty free thing that's added into the mix here.
Yeah, that reminds me. I was reading my airport in Dubai, and not only is it one of the busiest in the world, it's also home to the most lucrative duty free shop of all time. By the way, I've actually been to the Dubai airport, And speaking of luxuries, if they know you're flying through with a kid and we were on our way to India at the time, they actually bring you a stroller to meet you at the gate, so that like you can connect to your next plane
without having to wake up your kid. You can just put them in the stroller and stroll them along. It is really sort of very thoughtful and nothing I've experienced in the States. But back to the duty free thing. So their giant shop is just called Dubai duty Free, which is a little basic, but the sheer size of
the place is actually staggering. The store boasts four hundred and nine thousand square feet of retail space, and the Pacific Standard says, if you want to picture it, it's a full one and a half times the size of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Yeah, that helps me get a great picture of this thing. But that is huge. But you also said it's the most lucrative though, right, Yeah.
So the store's annual sales typically fall just shy of two billion US dollars.
From one store. I mean, so what are they selling to generate this kind of money.
It is the typical duty free stables, just at this greater volume. So they sell tons of perfume and liquor. It's three hundred million dollars in sales of that. Last year, tobacco sells really well there. They sold two hundred million dollars of that. They also sell other items like gold is a big seller, and not just jewelry, but actually like bars of twenty two carrot bricks, of gold. You know, it's crazy. There's another big seller that I never would have guessed. Tang.
What is tang? Oh like the orange powder drink mix.
Yeah, so it's just like the astronauts supposedly loved. But we're in the Pacific standard. The Dubai airport can sell upwards of fourteen hundred metric tons of tang in a single year. Isn't that insane? Like its just that much tang? And I was wondering that. Apparently it's southey laborers who like the stock up before going home after working in
the Persian Gulf. But you know, if you're thirsty for something a little stronger than Tang, you can actually check out the special first class only floor of the store, and that's where you'll find a two hundred thousand dollars bottle of whiskey. It's named the Royal Salute Tribute to Honor.
Oh what a well. I feel like I might just stick with the Tang in this case, and the store can't be selling too many of those bottles of whiskey though, right.
Oh, you mean Royal Salute Tribute to Honor.
Right, Tribute to Honor.
It sounds like a dictator. Named it, but supposedly, like having these high priced bottles around creates what's called a halo effect, and it encourages these wealthy travelers to spend more, which is, you know, just so typical of rich people.
Classic rich people. But I mean, you know, airports have plenty of other ways of getting your money besides retail, and one of them is that we just straight up give it to them, or at least that's the end result.
So how's that.
Well, we really do this though, by leaving money behind accidentally, So every year, millions of travelers hastily empty their pockets into those plastic bins at the security line, and then we forget to collect that loose change once we've made it through. And yeah, that could be just a few pennies here or there, but all those coins actually do add up. I was looking at this breakdown that CNBC put out, and over the years, it's interesting to see
how much it's been growing. So back in twenty eleven, it was just shy of half a million dollars that was left behind by people, and then it jumped to six hundred and seventy five thousand dollars in twenty fourteen, kept increasing every year. In twenty sixteen, the TSA's take was the biggest one reported yet. It was a whopping eight hundred and sixty seven thousand dollars in abandoned coins and other currency just left behind.
So what happens to that money? Like it just becomes TSA profit?
Uh? Pretty much. There was actually a law passed back in two thousand and five by Congress that stays that TSA free to keep the unclaimed cash it finds and put it toward whichever security efforts it wants to. And personally, my vote is for a dedicated bin cleaner so that I never have to hear another study about how dirty they are compared to a toilet. I can give behind that all right, Well, Tristan is over there tapping his PDX carpet wristwatch, which means it's time for today's fact off.
So you ready to do this? Mango always.
So you know how. All these airports had various codes, like pdx's Portland, LAX's La, et cetera. Apparently, the tiny sand dune where the Wright brothers made their first flight in Kiddie Hawk has been given a code as well, and they were sweetly given the name f FA, which stands for First Flight Airport.
Oh I like that. Well, for years, if you were flying through Genoa's Christophero Colombo Airport, you'd have to leave your pesto as security, at least if it was more than one hundred milliliters of the stuff. And of course it's made tons of tourists unhappy. So then they decided to amend the rules and now you can fly with five hundred grams of pesto and these are bigger jars, but that's as long as you make a donation to Flying Angels. Now, this is a charity that helps fund
air travel for sick children. So it's a sweet idea and people seem to be happy again. But there is one catch though. The airport waiver only applies to pesto that is actually made in Genoa.
So this is an airport related exactly. But do you know that pilots on flights are served different meals and they are not allowed to share. Apparently it's done as a rule because of a fear of food poisoning.
Wow, which makes a lot of sense actually, Well, speaking of planes, I realized this isn't something we'll probably ever have to worry about. But if the oxygen mask drops down, you're only going to get about fifteen to twenty minutes of oxygen. There's a limited amount of course on there, but the idea is that more than enough. The ideas that's more than enough time to take you to a lower altitude, which is when you won't really need them.
And actually, one other thing about those oxygen masks. What you're getting isn't really oxygen. It's actually kind of this cocktail of chemicals that when they're burned together, they release oxygen because pure oxygen tanks would just be too heavy and bulky to take up into the air.
That's interesting. So if you're wondering why certain passengers get pulled aside for a cavity check, there's actually a system for it. So TSA agents assign you points for specific suspicious behavior, and if you have too much of it, you know, too many points, that's when it happens. But
here are some of the things they're looking for. Exaggerated yawning or excessive throat clearing, covering your mouth when you're speaking, showing up in disguise, which makes sense, carrying an almanac, which makes less sense to me, widely open staring eyes and whistling.
Whistling, I mean, whistling is like the classic thing people do in movies when they're like, I'm not up to anything. But is that really whistling? Is it really on the list?
Yeah, it's when the individual approaches the screen process because they're worried. It's a code or signal. But you know, maybe it's also to teach annoying people to whistle less.
So all right, Well, here's a strange one. In New York. There's an airport dentist and I just learned about this. He's actually at one of the airports that I frequent but his name is doctor Robert Traeger, and much like those airport stores, he's taking full advantage of this location. So he's got to practice in Terminal B at Laguardi apparently, where he both sees airport employees and frequent flyers along
with some emergency walk ins, and at JFKA. His office is close by, outside of the main airport, so his wife will actually show fer you to the main terminal, but that's only if you're part of his smile high club. And I'm wondering how often these people are going to the dentist and then onto the airport to be part of whatever this club is.
But it's pretty amazing.
The crazy thing is that doctor Tregger also does work for the government while he's there, so the ions uses him to look at wisdom, teeth and these other indicators to determine whether people they're detaining are minors or whether they may be lying about their age because you can tell age through inspecting bones and also teeth.
It's crazy that he's got this double life. Well, yeah, here's a weird one. Do you know. The FAA has a theme song and I was not aware of that, And here a few of the lyrics. So we're planning and building a way to make tomorrow even safer than today. While flying grows, so do we And that's what it's all about. We want to help you get back home in a jumbo jet or flying alone. We make it safe up in the sky so you'll relax when you fly. So it's super cashy. Everyone knows the lyrics, they can
sing along. But it's actually got a great story. When morale was down in the eighties, this guy named John Hanks, he was the public affairs director at the time. He decided to give the FA a little boost, and as he put it, quote, it was designed to bring the FAA employees closer together and the common purpose we had in our mission of aviation safety. Oddly, it was a huge success, so employees really bought into it. They thought
it was super fun. The FA administrator thought it was great, and the FA Corral was performed at lots of events around the country, including and this is from Atlas Obscura at quote one of Nancy Reagan's Just Say No anti drug rallies, following the headliner LaToya Jackson. You know, the eighties were at this heady time where LaToya could be followed by Corral. But you know the best part of
it is that the song costs nothing to taxpayers. It was all done by Hanks and his friends in their free time.
You know, that's a good fact. But I think the fact that you slip the words LaToya Jackson into a fact off makes you just automatic winner. There's nothing I can do to beat that. So congratulations, thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
And we wanted to say thanks to some of our listeners out there. It's actually been a lot of fun to hear from you guys in recent months. Keeping track of who is winning the fact off battle because we actually haven't been keeping track and it was pretty funny. We stumbled across a website that somebody had actually pointed out to us, where one of our listeners is keeping track of who is winning this fact off battle, and unfortunately, it looks like Mango has been in the lead, and
of course just widen that lead again today. And I think you've been in the lead all year. You took a big lead last year and we've been pretty even this year.
But I Knowavda, I think his Husbanasi he created this whole graph of it.
It's pretty amazing, it's pretty terrific. But we love hearing from you on this kind of thing and always love seeing those types of things. But if there are any facts that we forgot to include about airports, about flying, anything related to the episode, we always love hearing from You can reach out to us at part Time Genius at HowStuffWorks dot com or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter. We're from Gabe, Tristan, Mango and me. Thanks
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