The Great Change: Turning Cathy into a Lawyer

Every time I'm in the Frankfurt airport I hate it more and more.

You'd think that having now been there several times I would have gained from the experience. Sadly it's not the case. The airport is labyrinth and confusing. There are security checks and passport controls everywhere, presenting time consuming bottlenecks to make even the most prompt of passengers late for their flights. Meanwhile boarding gate information is guarded like a trade secret, and luggage carts are prevented from going pretty much anywhere you might like to take them.

Whereas San Francisco Airport is fabulous. Not only do takeoffs and landings reward travelers with breathtaking views of the Bay Area, but the airport itself is sleek, modern, and fairly easy to traverse. OK, so the AirTrain is a little unintuitive and poorly labeled. But once you get the hang on it you can see that it follows a consistent logic. And riding it around gives a terrific birds-eye view of the airport operation.

Much of the airport was redone within just the past few years, so everything is modern and suitable for today's needs. The international terminal itself is brand new and very useable. The main entrance hall is a gigantic room with enough check-in areas for many 747s worth of passengers to all queue up simultaneously (as opposed to, say, the LAX international terminal or the old terminal at Charles De Gaulle, where even two 727s worth of passengers would cause traffic flow to ground to a halt). It's bright and airy, and built on rollers in case of earthquake. If it has any infirmities at all, it's that it might be too big, but it was built anticipating more passengers that the economy currently supports. Of course, when they come back, the airport will be ready.

Posted 11/22, written 11/21.