Often I’ll write about new airport terminals, and someone will point out the lack of moving walkways, and wonder how airport designers could make such a mistake for a new facility. Heck, we’ve even seen some airports rip out perfectly functional moving walkways. What are they thinking?!?
Continue reading: Why Airports Are Ditching Moving Walkways, Frustrating Passengers
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Lazy obese Americans generally aren’t found at airports or in the parts of America where tourists and businesses travelers typically visit.
I believe this article overstates the politeness in Japan.
It also undersells Miami. Ben, I know you’re gay, but your readers primarily are not. The women in Miami are of exceptional beauty. This dwarfs the problem of watching videos without headphones.
The one greta improvement I am seeing in Canad and europe is security scanners that you can keep everyting in your carry-on. You don't trake out anything except empty your pockets. In Dusseldorf last year you would even walk through without your pockets.
I hadn't connected through O'Hare in a long time but when I got to ORD about 4 or 5 years ago and found that the United Terminal had ripped out all the moving walkways, I vowed I'd never transit through there again---and haven't That was before my bi lateral knee replacements when i was hobbling along, but still.....i want a little convenience when I travel---not run a marathon getting to a stupid gate. I use mostly Denver now for east/west flights. Shame on airlines/airports for doing this.
Clearly Arps, you have not been into any “Airports or in the parts of America where tourists and businesses travellers typically visit” lately, yes?
I have one BIG problem with Moving Walkways. I'm not at an airport for shopping or burning money. Can't people understand that there's a rule called "Stand right, walk left"?!
Hope they don't remove at MSP "G" gates where the new delta sky club is located. It's a long walk.
"those who truly have limited mobility generally use airport wheelchair services" I think this is over generalizing, and not appreciating that limited mobility is a spectrum. I would say that my mom has had "limited mobility" for 10 years, and most of the time she has not used wheelchair services. Moving walkways were a bridge to allow her to avoid requesting a wheelchair, but now that most airports are tearing them out, she has to request them more and more.
“Why does Ben's sexuality have any relevance here?”
Because that particular poster is a psychotic unhinged asshole.
Noticed that many European airports has "maze" of duty-free shops right after passport control for departure. Definitely more intrusive setup (feels like Ikea showroom) then any American or Asian airports.
@Cedric - That bag scanning technology is also being deployed in the US at many airports. I have personally seen them at multiple airports, though many of them only have them at certain checkpoints.
I have also seen the updated body scanners at LaGuardia (LGA), where I believe it was the new Terminal B that had them. They are the same ones I have seen in European airports with updated security checkpoints (the ones that are between two walls with no roof above and have a body painted on the wall).
"expect to see someone standing right in the middle of it watching a video without headphones". Gah, I am so frustrated over everyone believing it is within their right to blast sounds from their phone... Wasn't like this at all before covid, and it is so dependant on where in the world you are. Maybe write an article about this fenomenon?
I'm with you. And when you try to pass, or ask them to step to a side, they look at you like YOU'RE the asshole.
And of course, this is despite decent signage stating, "Walk left. Stand right".
The rule is “stand on the right move on the left”, Ben it’s clearly posted on many walkways
Airports also often have very few wheelchairs and personnel. SO you may need to add extra 30-45 minutes of wait time and possible anxiety - especially for elderly people.
Perhaps in your country, but other countries drive on the left side of the road, and pedestrians learn to behave the same way. So unfortunately when people arrive on an international flight the policy for the local walkways aren't always understood by the arriving passengers.
Absolutely a Eurotrash comment. At least for now, be thankful for the security Europe enjoys complements of the US taxpayer. And be sure not to post an unflattering comment in Europe or enjoy a visit from the police.
I have to disagree with Ben I think there's a very large middle area of people who may find the distance challenging, particularly if carrying some luggage. But are far from disabled to defaulting to a wheelchair.
Even for fully abled people, you may not have the time or inclination to hoof it an extra mile to the gate since a lot of these locations that don't have moving walkways also don't manage their airflow either.
Unless it's Singapore,
I'd rather do my extra exercise walking somewhere outside that doesn't involve dodging 10,000 slow walkers, parents with children, people laboring behind too much luggage, people stopping in the middle for navigation purposes, etc, etc, etc.
Moving walkways make a nice delineation between people who are trying to go somewhere, as opposed to the ones who need to saunter or meander or pause or repack or whatever else. But yes, they need to be well designed for ingress/ egress.
Totally agree, but airports are also full of people that meander along in groups of 6 spread right across the available walking space , and then stopr right in the middle of it to observe the departures screens. Or just to have a family chat. Dohhh.
Hey Ben, by reading the headline, I immediately thought you will bring up the Frankfurt Airport case. They did remove a moving walkway in the funnel between the Squaire and the terminal.
There were not any shops in between. The main motivation was likely to reduce operating costs.
It sucks because it really was helpful to catch a train and from time to time seconds play a role. That‘s not in the best interest of welfare
My favorite psychology test is try walking next to the moving walkway. People who are stationary tend to start walking again! It's incredible magic! I would take the walkways if they were used by people who are walking but more often, people who have no intent on walking use them instead. Except for PHX where people are... ok with following the walk on left stand right movement rule
I am an older adult who is not in perfect health. I would rather not use a wheelchair. I can certainly manage a reasonable ( for me LOL ) distance..Ben think curbside to gate at Tampa. But I do use and appreciate moving walkways in airports with really long concourses.
Municipalities who allow airports to have designs that are explicitly inefficient should sue the builders and fire the operators.
And if they don't, it's our job as voters to get the right people on the boards of governors to fix the problem
Passengers who are airside at airports like HKG and NRT can use small trolleys (carts) for free to help them shlep their carry-on. That's nice –and it probably makes shopping inside the terminal more convenient.
Yes, as well as Asia and most other countries. What’s great about European airports is that you don’t have the your trapped in the airport so we are going to triple all our prices. A dink costs the same in the airport as it does elsewhere.
Agreed @NK3. I'm an old geezer, but I don't use a wheel chair at this point, and the walks are good for me, but the more moving walkways I can get in airports the better or I have to leave the lounge for the gate way in advance. I guess I'm going to be forced to use a wheel chair soon even though I don't normally use one.
"Stand right, walk left"?!
It's not universal.
Another self-centered American.
Calling people in UK driving on the wrong side of the road etc.
What? Many of the in-concourse short moving sidewalks are gone, but the LONG walkway connecting Concourse C to Concourse B via a tunnel remains.
Another self centered American who thinks we can always print money for everyone to use on every public project especially to make it a deficit and lose even more money running it.
At the same time you refuse to pay more tax and complain all about your tax money subsidizing other people or someone else's war.
On the other hand, there is a better word for "explicitly inefficient". It's called corruption.
Oh the hypocrisy.
I think the speakerphone phenomenon happened around the same time that headphone jacks were removed from most phones. Suddenly you needed higher-priced bluetooth headphones and not everybody had them or wanted to pay for them. It was also around this time that phone plans started including unlimited data, so it wouldn’t cost extra to watch TikToks from the beginning of your journey to the end.
Atlanta needs one for international arrivals with final destination Atlanta. It is a near mile walk and there are zero shops.
If you’re gay you don’t appreciate the female form. I can’t believe this had to be spoon fed to you. Low IQ scum.
Also not true in Australia. Drive on the left, stand on the left, walk on the left.
This is the most unhinged thing you've ever posted, Arps, and that's a high bar. Either you're working too many hours or drinking too much, or maybe there's some really good coke around at the moment. Get some sleep, take a vacation, and lay off the substances if that's the problem. Incoherence is not a trait of effective legal counsel.
Heathrow airport is like a mall. You don’t even get your gate assignment until 30 minutes before your flight. So you’re basically forced to walk past all of the shops.
Schiphol in Amsterdam only uses moving sidewalks between long connections between different parts of the airport as opposed to a tram or sky link. “Mind your step”. United airlines lounge for Premier members are about 2 miles away from every gate United uses so it’s virtually useless to be a United Club or United Premiere member at Schiphol in Amsterdam.
It's not the right or wrong side.
Depending on your destination it's simply:
Respect the Right or Love the Left
@Arps - I'm a gay man. Drop your pants and I'll tell you if you are of exceptional beauty. Woof
i don't fall for their tricks. Thx for 1 more reason i will NEVER buy anything in an airport
Schiphol airport has removed the moving sidewalks at the European part, why? No idea
I am 74 now and a frequent flyer with reduced lung capacity (and no, I never smoked!). 33%. I don't like to use wheel chairs and often times you have to wait a long time just to get one. The moving walkways really help. We landed last week at the new terminal at Newark airport. Luckily I had ordered a wheel chair. I had never been to this terminal and there was no moving walkway and it was a very, very long walk to the curb where our pick up was waiting. I like the moving walkways.
This makes no sense from any angle. Are the women in Miami more beautiful when they block the walkway? Are they visible only when blocking the walkway?
This post has made my day.
Literally spat out my coffee because I burst into laughter when reading it.
Hysterical.
On the tube escalators, you stand right and walk left despite cars and trains keeping left.
This article and your comment that "I try to rack up as many steps as possible" brings to mind all that video footage of you getting your exercise whilst casually strolling through, and enjoying, the gorgeous terminals in Cairo International.
@AeroB13a, he’s out of order every day, shooting snide and racist remarks at everyone… yet here we are. 🙁
I'm pleased you mention backtracking. In relation to duty free, I make a beeline for the open spaces of the terminal and try to get through the 'maze' as quickly as possible. Now, if there were duty free stores inside the terminal proper, I might browse but, with the maze concept, I just don't like backtracking.
Am I alone in thinking this way?
As you get older, yiu see tge value.
BUT: they take up space, so more motorised wheelchairs or buggies may be more efficient.
Between buildings, travelators make perfect sense. However, here in the northwest of England, Manchester Airport has a long and annoying history of defective, failing and unreliable travelators as pert of the 30-year-old walkways to the airport train station.
This is no longer true for the most part. Just doublechecked Amazon and there are a bunch of well-rated Bluetooth earbuds for $25 or less.
FFS if people can afford a $900 phone with $40/month service, they damn well can afford a $25 pair of earbuds.
I agree. Take the UK where you drive on the left and where the underground ( or Subway) was invented.
Oh wait. On any escalator or moving walkway it's "Stand on the right, walk on the left".
My dad has mobility issues since his 50s and while granted it's not serious enough to warrant a wheelchair - excessive walking hurts his knees. Moving walkways are a godsend for some people and I don't think we realise how few wheelchair users there are overseas - they don't use them unless they genuinely need to and are not able to walk w/o one and not just because they are lazy to walk. I also think people forget about how prideful older people are, specifically dads, can be. A lot of older dads refuse canes, let alone wheelchairs.
I can't remember the last time they worked at MAN, and it's my most used airport. And it doesn't go past any shops, so the arguments raised against them in this article don't apply.
While I can appreciate some of the points made, I just can't shake the feeling that most of the arguments made are parallels to people arguing for highways over subways and transit.
@Ben,
Arps is clearly a troll and not a very good one to boot and he's making visiting your blog unpleasant.
I think it's time that he joins Timmy Dunn in the corner for a long timeout.
Mark - I'm interested in your opinion. A man at the gate was watching a game loudly on his phone yesterday (I was listening to a podcast with earbuds). It crossed my mind to just start blaring opera or annoying Mrs. Miller songs on speaker -- but then I thought that isn't fair to other PAX. I finally just got up & moved. Any thoughts?
Yep, that was caused by the arrogance and greed of Apple. They could save room while forcing their customers to use only THEIR earbuds or to buy their stupid dongle that costs like $15 and is guaranteed to be lost within 60 days. Some people declined to play that game and now we're stuck with the ignorant obnoxiousness of it.
Removing moving walkways is not dissimilar to what Apple did, btw. It's another case of not really giving a crap what the customer prefers (or needs) as far as maximizing profits go. And moving walkways at an airport (especially a large one) do help in a number of ways and are a positive asset. Take MIA; you've got this loooong terminal with basically no moving walkways. Which causes hardships for older people, families with little kids, and those late for their AA connection. Their only real downsides have to do with the users themselves.
I'm sorry but cai has shit terminals and even shittier service after traveling from and to it many times
Most of these moving sidewalks seem to be perpetually broke. Moreover, most are so narrow that if someone stands you can't get by them, particularly if they are of girth.
May I suggest you replace "another self centered American" with ASCA in future posts to save time since you repeat it so often? (Or at least add the needed hyphen between the 2nd and 3rd words.)
If traveling alone I dont really need the walkways, but taking two kids under 5 years old through the long terminals of (for instance) JFK, they certainly help. Yea I can push the stroller the regular way, but my 4 year old isnt using a stroller and his mobility limits might not be "wheelchair bound" but they do exist, at least some times (redeyes, for example)
It took me a min to understand Arps’ insane comment. He is talking about covertly sexually harassing/assaulting women in the airport. Them standing in the middle of the walkway allows him to push past them and “appreciate” their female form. It is mind boggling how pathetic this is. That the prospect of brushing up against some attractive stranger is a major selling point for him. He probably hangs out in front of those big gym windows to ogle women and considers it some great life hack.
It sometimes varies even within countries: See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalator_etiquette
(Does any city have one rule for escalators and a different one for travelators?)
Since USA has a lot of senoirs traveling, moving walkways make since. We all qualify for wheelchair access. I will probably travel more in the States by car
Pride is one element, and there is also practicality.
I recently sustained a sports injury so got to experience the wheelchair setups at DFW, and IST transit.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to go to the lounge (I know, First World Problem)
Unless there are restrooms next to the "transit marshalling yard" it's really difficult to go (IST: fail on this)
It's really difficult if one does want something practical from a shop (E.g. aspirin, magazine, bar of chocolate)
More generally, like Ageing Suits, trying out being in the wheelchair service at different airports should be on the preparation list for all (including able bodied) people designing a new or extended airport/station etc.
Is pride a significant motivator for folding canes?
It can be simply useful to be able to stow them away.
But it also means they can be not at all visible except when actually needed?
I just read the headline. I'd keep the moving sidewalks, but glad to hear they're getting rid of the frustrating passengers.
I used to run marathons. I never thought I’d get old. Now at 80, I have trouble walking, multiple foot surgeries. Moving walkways are a godsend for me, especially as all the major airports are so huge. Wheelchairs are not always available and in some airports the queue to get one can be up to an hour. It is really insensitive to me to be removing these helpful walkways. I just hope these decision makers never get old.
This more than likely due to maintenance cost and the airports refusing to hire qualified maintenance workers or pay for contractors to maintain these moving walkways. Could be also due to rude behavior by passengers who want to run over other passengers using these walkways. Just sayin
BRING BACK MOVING SIDEWALKS. The extension of concourses as airports expand is making it harder and harder to get from point A to B. I am not infirm enough to need a wheelchair but I am also not as young as I used to be. It can be 1/2 mile between 2 gates when changing planes, for example, at Denver's C Concourse. The passenger experience is bad enough without the airport creating environmental barriers like long distance walks (or nonstop P.A. announcements).
I fly 6 -8 times a year for the last 20 + years. I have never eaten or drank at an airport facility, so I unaware of their placement. And I am aggravated by the long walks from check-in to boarding gates. I’ve noticed the growing lack of walks, but never realized the reason. Phooey!
As previously mentioned, there are many, many people who are not disabled enough to want (or usually need) a wheelchair, but for whom a brisk half-mile walk to another gate is a daunting challenge (not to mention insufficient wheelchairs and assistants). Add in luggage and tight connections and it becomes even harder. Same for families with small children and family luggage.
The monetization argument is understandable, but doesn't make sense somewhere like Phoenix terminal 4 where there is no shopping between the concourses and yet there's no moving sidewalk in the long sloping hall to the new D gates.
Yes, I understand that airports and their concessionaires don't want moving sidewalks in areas where there are stores or restaurants.
But where there is a long stretch without any stores or restaurants, then there should be moving sidewalks there.
I used to run marathons.
Now at 80, I have trouble walking, multiple foot surgeries.
Could have picked a different hobby.
Life choices and consequences.
Interesting that SLC has plenty of moving walkways, since it only just opened 2020. But now that you mention it, I realize that each moving walkway runs past only 4-6 gates, then you get off the walkway and there's a cluster of shops and restaurants, and then you get on another moving walkway past the next 4-6 gates. The pattern repeats. it's definitely intentional yet I never thought about it before.
In Newark they took out the moving sidewalks just as I get old and have neuropathy and a bad back period they fill the space with bars and restaurants that charge outrageous prices period when they first opened one of the restaurants I thought that might be nice to have a nice big hot pretzel, it was 14 Dollars! Screw that I refuse to patronize any of the restaurants or bars that have replaced the moving sidewalks.
I like the walk but what bothers me is when airports carpet rather than hard surface the floor. Roller bags are that much harder to move on carpet.
If airports want to encourage more foot traffic along with the opportunity for shopping, remove the carpeted floor covering.
It doesn't really matter if it's posted if people without repercussion ignore the signs.
You are not right that most people with mobility issues can use wheelchairs. Many, many people have mobility issues that don't require wheelchairs but make walking long distances very hard. For instance, back problems, knee problems, hip problems, dysplasia, neuralgia, etc. Walking very long distances in airports can be completely exhausting and cause a lot of pain, especially while pulling luggage. Have some compassion.
Comedian Kevin James once said that moving walkways at airports should end at a Cinnabon.
Once at St. Louis, just as American was completing the purchase of TWA, my wife and I had to connect from the end of Concourse D to the end of Concourse C.
While standing on a walkway, my wife saw a sign for a restroom. Seeing that the walkway extended for some distance, she hopped up on the handrail, spun around, hopped off, and strode to the restroom.
I was left with her carry-on and mine.
I waited at the end of the walkway for her.
With a segmented walkway, she would have had to do that.
I would like to hear your opinion when you reach a senior, though still healthy physical condition for short walks, age or medical issues. It’s a disregard for the needs of a great portion of the travelers which are a large portion of the market.
And to force the able ones to use wheelchairs? Do you really think it’ll be efficient, both money wise in equipment and labor and transit expedient to have hundreds of wheelchairs and their pushers crowding up the corridors. I would like to know what you think when your hips and knees start giving you what you have coming.
Will need more connecting time at these airports. Delta routinely schedules 30 min at MSP. Lots of misconnects even with people movers.
Great article . I am SO PISSED they don’t have them in places that clearly can use them. Redoing airports like Phx is a good example. Always about the $$$ not the customer !!
This is complete BS. The moving walkways are generally NOT in areas lined with businesses. I have never seen one in the areas lined with stores. Mostly in long empty corridors coming from gates with few stores and there are stops frequent enough to get off for a lunch or coffee. I am talking Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Gatwick, Dallas, JFK and others. IDK what the real motivation for this article is, but it is disingenuous.
It seems awfully hard on those of us who are not quite wheelchair ready, but neither young nor super-hearty, to have to lug carry-on bags for literally miles just to sell $20 drinks.
The picture of DOH in my view is not a good example to prove that there are no businesses beside the moving walkways. That area is purely a gate area on both sides. The chairs you can see are waiting areas for those who wait at the gate for boarding. Also, this area is connecting the central part of DOH - which is a huge shopping mall in itself with an outer part which again is a slightly smaller shopping mall. And then in most of the concourses (A, B, D and E) you also have smaller retail areas. It is just this area of concourse C which doesn't have retail. DOH proves that you can have both, as most (A,B,C) if not all (D+E) have moving walkways and retail.