I firmly believe that it should be possible to approach any real city on any major highway and find the airport—easily—just by following signs. These signs should start early—as you approach the city—appear frequently, and never leave you wondering if you are still on the right road for the airport.
Last week found me approaching “Mystery Airport†via interstate highway. I saw no airport signs until I was well into the city. That didn’t worry me too much, because my road map showed—roughly—where the highway to the airport should be. There came a point, however, when “roughly†wasn’t good enough. I needed “exactly.â€
 Then there it was, a large sign advising me that the airport turnoff was at the next exit on the right. Quite some effort was required to change lanes quickly enough to make that turn.
Once the turn was made no signs were observed for a bit, then, just about the time I began to get antsy again, there was one sign saying the airport was ten miles. That was the last sign seen for ten miles, during which there were many other turnoffs and opportunities to get off the track. I kept the faith, however, and eventually arrived at airport and pulled into long-term parking.
After climbing out of my pickup truck, I noticed there were no signs pointing to the terminal. It was fairly obvious that the terminal was right over yonder—“roughly.†I wandered through parking lot and garage and, eventually, found the terminal.
Upon my return to that airport, I got into truck and quickly noticed—you guessed it—there were no signs in sight saying “exit.†Damn! I drove all around that parking lot before I figured out that the exit was through the garage.
Near as I can figure, I’ve flown in and/or out of 48 of these 50 United States (and driven into the other two states). Surely I’ve visited more airports than most out-of-town visitors to Mystery Airport. Surely if I was a little uncomfortable getting into and out of there, other people might feel the same.
I will send a copy of this Blog to the management of Mystery Airport.
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