The thread for images so cool that they belong in this thread

[Draft Dodger]

I see a nipple

[Desnudo]

[Toddzilla]

[Matthean]

[Coffee Warlord]

Why have I never thought of that.

[MizzouRah]

Yep, we do that all the time at our house, my kids love them!

[NobodyHere]

But can you make them into a hamburger bun?

[Matthean]

[PilotMan]

I guess this is the place for this to go. A local blog posted some pix of one of the closed concourses here at the raped Cincinnati airport (see also Pittsburgh, Nashville and soon to be Cleveland.)

This place has a lot of memories for me. I spent tons of time in this terminal over the years. I had just been wondering how it looked in there. I taxi by it all the time.

Queen City Discovery: The Concourse: Part 1 - Island in a Stream of Runways

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

A local blog posted some pix of one of the closed concourses here at the raped Cincinnati airport (see also Pittsburgh, Nashville and soon to be Cleveland.)

What's the story?

[Warhammer]

I knew they looked familiar, but couldn't place it. Spent a ton of time in that airport while my wife and I were dating.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I guess this is the place for this to go. A local blog posted some pix of one of the closed concourses here at the raped Cincinnati airport (see also Pittsburgh, Nashville and soon to be Cleveland.)

I'll repeat dawg's question? What makes the Cincy airport "raped"?

Of course, my memories aren't as fond. I always thought Cincy was a shithole.

[Buccaneer]

Those were eerie photos and article. I recall the airport as being quite busy the many times I've flown through it.

Scanning the article briefly, it appears that Delta (and other airlines?) has been cutting back flights drastically at Cincy, as well as Nashville, Cleveland, etc.; therefore they become less of a hub and don't need that many gates anymore.

[cartman]

Those pics remind me of the North Concourse at Love Field. When DFW opened, all of the airlines, except Southwest, moved overnight to DFW. Just about everything was left behind. Our little airline operated out of the first gate on the lower level of that concourse in '93-'95. We got access to the upper level, and it was like stepping into a time machine. All of the counters were still in place, and had the last flight info still on them. I haven't been back to Love Field in a while, but I understand that they've started using those gates again.

[PilotMan]

All of those airports were places where major airlines had massive presences. Cincy was obviously dominated by Delta. At one time there were over 650 daily departures. Today it's around 130. Pittsburgh had a building similar to this for their commuter planes that is closed now. When UsAir went bankrupt they pretty much pulled out leaving the airport about 30% utilized. Nashville had just built a new terminal and was looking forward to expansion from American when American decided to completely abandon the plan, leaving the airport mostly a ghost town. United just announced plans to eliminate Cleveland as a hub. That will mean the elimination of pretty much all of it's regional jet flying. Certainly there will be a lot of empty gates there now too.

The Cincinnati airport (and the others) were left with these empty spaces that are perfectly functional but useless today. It's a lot of money wasted and sad for all the people (thousands) who lost their jobs as a result of it.

[Butter]

Memphis had a couple of areas blocked off when I was there a few weeks ago... I really wanted to go in there and wander around since I had like 5 hours to kill, but I also didn't feel like getting arrested since screwing around in an airport is not taken lightly anymore.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

KC residents are balking at a proposal for a new airport for the same reasons listed above. Plus the fact that everyone loves the fact that KCI has the shortest curb to gate distance of any international airport in the nation (around 100 feet).

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

KC residents are balking at a proposal for a new airport for the same reasons listed above. Plus the fact that everyone loves the fact that KCI has the shortest curb to gate distance of any international airport in the nation (around 100 feet).

That is no shit. I love flying in there for that reason alone. Plus you have security right at the gate area and baggage claim right outside. It has some drawbacks like most of the food being outside security, but man the positives are fantastic.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

All of those airports were places where major airlines had massive presences. Cincy was obviously dominated by Delta. At one time there were over 650 daily departures. Today it's around 130. Pittsburgh had a building similar to this for their commuter planes that is closed now. When UsAir went bankrupt they pretty much pulled out leaving the airport about 30% utilized. Nashville had just built a new terminal and was looking forward to expansion from American when American decided to completely abandon the plan, leaving the airport mostly a ghost town. United just announced plans to eliminate Cleveland as a hub. That will mean the elimination of pretty much all of it's regional jet flying. Certainly there will be a lot of empty gates there now too.

The Cincinnati airport (and the others) were left with these empty spaces that are perfectly functional but useless today. It's a lot of money wasted and sad for all the people (thousands) who lost their jobs as a result of it.

Yeah, but that shit happens. I wouldn't call those airports "raped". They were simply phased out.

Those aren't great hubs anyway. The cities aren't big enough to generate a lot of flights by themselves. They also face year-around bad weather due to snow/ice during the winter and thunderstorms in the summer. Look at the hub cities now. Yeah, NY is always going to have a ton of traffic, so those airports might as well be hubs. Of the rest of the East Coast/Midwest cities, Charlotte is probably the smallest of all of them and it's still 23rd. The weather in those cities is generally favorable for much of the year - Dallas, Charlotte and Atlanta rarely face long winter weather delays from storms in their area and the thunderstorms aren't as worse than much of the other areas on the East Coast. It also probably has something to do with those areas being traditional union areas whereas unions don't have as much clout in the south.

Also, just because I was thinking of it, fuck Phoenix. I hate that frigging airport. It's enormously spread out and there's not a frigging decent thing to eat later at night there.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

KC residents are balking at a proposal for a new airport for the same reasons listed above. Plus the fact that everyone loves the fact that KCI has the shortest curb to gate distance of any international airport in the nation (around 100 feet).

I usually hate airports. Kansas City definitely ranks among my least stressful airport experiences. Bob Hope in Burbank, CA is my other that ranks high on that list, screw LAX!

[Ramzavail]

Savannah/Hilton Head was real smooth for me.

[molson]

LAX makes me feel like a confused, elderly traveler. One time during a layover there I somehow ended up on the wrong side of the security and had to go through again.

It's great to have a small home airport like Boise. So quick and easy to get in and out.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by lungs

I usually hate airports. Kansas City definitely ranks among my least stressful airport experiences. Bob Hope in Burbank, CA is my other that ranks high on that list, screw LAX!

Burbank is great, as is Long Beach. San Jose isn't bad either. I'm a big fan of the smaller, regional airports that are much less stressful.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

KC residents are balking at a proposal for a new airport for the same reasons listed above. Plus the fact that everyone loves the fact that KCI has the shortest curb to gate distance of any international airport in the nation (around 100 feet).

Unless they think they can steal some traffic away as a new hub, I don't get it at all. But where would they steal it from? Dallas? Chicago? Denver? All 3 seem unlikely.

I don't have numbers to back this up so maybe I'm wrong but with all the mergers of the last few years, airlines are cutting back on number of flights not increasing them.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Unless they think they can steal some traffic away as a new hub, I don't get it at all. But where would they steal it from? Dallas? Chicago? Denver? All 3 seem unlikely.

I don't have numbers to back this up so maybe I'm wrong but with all the mergers of the last few years, airlines are cutting back on number of flights not increasing them.

SI

The 'problem' is that they basically have a full security staff/equipment for every 5-6 gates. They want to go to one large airport so they can have one large security checkpoint. Great for budget, bad for flyer experience.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

The 'problem' is that they basically have a full security staff/equipment for every 5-6 gates. They want to go to one large airport so they can have one large security checkpoint. Great for budget, bad for flyer experience.

I get that. I remember the fight for the couple of years after 9/11 where KCI badly wanted to be in the pilot group for the new TSA regulations so they had a seat at the table with deciding what was going to happen.

SI

[chadritt]

Originally Posted by lungs

I usually hate airports. Kansas City definitely ranks among my least stressful airport experiences. Bob Hope in Burbank, CA is my other that ranks high on that list, screw LAX!

I used to say that as long as Burbank was only $50 more I would fly out of there, then it became $100 and now I'm not sure what the price difference would have to be for me to go to LAX instead. I also live 10 minutes from the Burbank airport which makes a HUGE difference.

[ColtCrazy]

Just came back from a conference in New Mexico and definitely had some good and bad with airports. Indy's new airport is pretty nice. Didn't seem horribly busy given the size, but it was very nice like a mini Detroit. Albuquerque's was really nice too. Very short curb to gate distance, open design. Along the way we went through Houston (big, sprawling…did not like it) and Denver (was relegated to one end, which was compact and crowded).

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Just came back from a conference in New Mexico and definitely had some good and bad with airports. Indy's new airport is pretty nice. Didn't seem horribly busy given the size, but it was very nice like a mini Detroit. Albuquerque's was really nice too. Very short curb to gate distance, open design. Along the way we went through Houston (big, sprawling…did not like it) and Denver (was relegated to one end, which was compact and crowded).

Albuquerque's airport is pretty small and so it's easy to get in and out of. Indy is good too - there are enough big events that come into Indy that pretty much require them to have a good airport (like the NFL Combine).

Denver is usually crowded and it's massive. If you're in one of the United gate areas in Terminal B (Gates 50-60 or so) or the B Extension (Gates 80+), it's unbelievably crowded. Those areas are pretty horrid. Beyond those spots, it's not quite as crowded. The upside is that there are literally dozens of places to eat, including one of the best airport restaurants in the country - The Denver Chop House, found in Terminal A.

[Toddzilla]

Please take it to the "The thread for boring stories about airports so cool they belong in the thread that isn't the image thread thread"

[britrock88]

Better?

[mckerney]

[flere-imsaho]

mckerney - what is that from, or is it?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

mckerney - what is that from, or is it?

An abandoned airport in Cincinnati.

[Ronnie Dobbs3]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

mckerney - what is that from, or is it?

http://thechive.com/2012/03/08/somet...ort-25-photos/

[kcchief19]

We need to get FOFC into a KCI focus group. The glitterati of KC are trying to sell a bill of goods that everyone outside Kansas City hates KCI and it's the worst airport in the country.

I'll begrudgingly admit that if you are connecting through Kansas City on different airlines, it's a bitch. But everything else … pure gold. I've got a friend who complains about having to leave the secured gate to go to the bathroom. But honestly, in the time it takes in most other airports to walk from your gate to a bathroom that's no where near your gate, you can leave and go back through security with no problems.

Once you've been through the Bataan Death March that is security at Atlanta or Vegas, KCI is a dream come true.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

mckerney - what is that from, or is it?

As long as this thread is also about airport talk I thought it would be worthwhile to post some of the fine art from the Denver airport.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

We need to get FOFC into a KCI focus group. The glitterati of KC are trying to sell a bill of goods that everyone outside Kansas City hates KCI and it's the worst airport in the country.

I'll begrudgingly admit that if you are connecting through Kansas City on different airlines, it's a bitch. But everything else … pure gold. I've got a friend who complains about having to leave the secured gate to go to the bathroom. But honestly, in the time it takes in most other airports to walk from your gate to a bathroom that's no where near your gate, you can leave and go back through security with no problems.

Once you've been through the Bataan Death March that is security at Atlanta or Vegas, KCI is a dream come true.

What airline connects through KCI these days, anyway? It's not a hub for anything now that Midwest was bought up by Frontier. There are no X->KCI->X flights.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

What airline connects through KCI these days, anyway? It's not a hub for anything now that Midwest was bought up by Frontier. There are no X->KCI->X flights.

SI

Southwest is the biggest one. They run around 68 flights per day out of the airport.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Better?

Her elbows are too sharp

[Suburban Rhythm]

If we're posting classy airport art, I present Pittsburgh International



Both led rag tag group - the Colonial Army and Franco's Italian Army - to greatness

[TroyF]

Denver airport can be a strange place. The blue demon horse should have been removed a long time ago. some of the artwork is truly strange. They also have art shows there for events in Colorado. They usually turn out really strange. Spent many, many, many days at that airport. It's amazing to think I haven't been in an airport in over a year. The previous two years I flew at least once every two weeks, many times more.

[Matthean]

[CraigSca]

Originally Posted by Matthean

How can this end well?

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs3

http://thechive.com/2012/03/08/somet...ort-25-photos/

Great link, thanks for that. Those murals are definitely bizarre.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

If we're posting classy airport art, I present Pittsburgh International



Both led rag tag group - the Colonial Army and Franco's Italian Army - to greatness

That's funny. They have that same Franco Harris statue in Oakland except the ball is touching the ground.

[PilotMan]

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Bobble

That's funny. They have that same Franco Harris statue in Oakland except the ball is touching the ground.

I thought it was the same statue just with another one of a ref behind it throwing a penalty flag as Harris catches the ball.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

What airline connects through KCI these days, anyway? It's not a hub for anything now that Midwest was bought up by Frontier. There are no X->KCI->X flights.

SI

Pretty much. It's a complaint without a problem. Flight traffic is so low that no airlines are in split terminals. The only reason you would ever have to connect in KC is if you're switching airlines … and how rare is that?

I have a friend in economic development who says out of town executives who come to KC are completely underwhelmed by the airport and as such don't want to relocate or build businesses in KC. If your a company that doesn't want to come to KC because of our airport, I'm not sure you should be in the money-making business.

[cartman]

MCI consistently ranks on the list of worst airports in the US. If a company depends a lot on people coming in from out of town, the airport ranks pretty high on the list when evaluating locations.