Something that’s been an airport staple for what feels like forever might soon no longer be a thing.
For when frantic travelers need to get from point A to B in an airport while carrying heavy luggage — moving walkways come in handy.
However, according to One Mile At A Time and airline, hotel and loyalty program expert, Ben Schlappig — many airports are ripping out these convenient walkways for a strategic reason.
Schlappig explains that at the end of the day, airports are businesses, and they make money in two primary ways — fees related to airplanes (landing fees, gate fees, etc.), and then all the other revenue opportunities, including airport concessions.”
Airport operators want to delay fliers from plopping down in a seat at their designated gate and instead wandering the airport stores and kiosks, spending as much money as they can.
In turn, this will allow airports to not only make a cut of the money from their stores but also charge higher rents.
“The moving walkway also acts as a divider, with people walking on each side of it. It’s like being in a car and seeing a business on the other side of a six-lane road — it’s not exactly easy to access,” Schlappig wrote.
According to CNBC, so far, airports in Chicago, Las Vegas, Orlando, Dallas and Cincinnati are some of the ones that have gotten rid of their moving walkways.
And if you are still noticing moving walkways in some major airports, like Hong Kong and Doha — odds are they don’t have many businesses between gates, so the walkways aren’t doing any harm, according to the article.
Moving walkway or not — once you finally board your plane, experts say that the bathroom onboard is one of the dirtiest places.
“The toilets are regularly cleaned, but the locks and door handles are not,” Josephine Remo, a flight attendant and travel blogger, told Travel and Leisure.
To take things even further and make them grosser — studies have proved that in-flight water tanks can harbor harmful bacteria.
“My takeaway from doing the research was to not drink the coffee and the tea. At all,” Charles Platkin, the author of the study and the executive director of the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center, told T&L.
Experts also suggest wearing a mask when entering a plane’s bathroom so you don’t breathe in “the potential feces particles, circulating [in] the air after a toilet flush,” advised a former flight attendant to The Sun.
