Planes, terminal floors & short runways

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Some people are opposed to expanding the airport runway. I say plow it into the sagebrush. Or stop booking huge planes in the winter.

I was on a flight into Jackson Hole just before last New Year’s that circled twice over the airport, but couldn’t land. The pilot wasted no time blaming the length of the Jackson runway, which is short, under snowy conditions, for the large, nearly full jet to land.

The plane returned to Salt Lake City, half of the passengers applauded as volunteers exited the plane to buy hotel rooms, without compensation, so the pilot could try Jackson again with a lighter load.

Then, before we took off, we got word that the snow was falling too fast in the Tetons, so even a half-full plane wouldn’t be able to land that night. Soon the gate looked like a scene from the Lord of the Flies. Two hundred angry travelers circled around a lone gate agent.

The scene the next morning was even worse. But I darted past families and old people to secure my spot.

When the plane landed, the pilot wished us a happy stay, and ended his farewell with this caveat: “Next time you plan to travel to Jackson Hole, maybe you will reconsider.”

The woman next to me leaned over to her husband across the aisle: “Well honey, we’re not coming back to Jackson next year,” she said. “We can just go to Salt Lake or Aspen.”

And to many Jackson residents, it is fine if the pair don’t come to Jackson.
But these visitors – the kind that tip bellboys with $20-bills, order nice wine with dinner, and buy things from local merchants – they were my bread and butter when I started out here, and people like them still provide decent livings for many of my friends.

I don’t see why the terminal should be expanded. I’ve never waited in a line for anything there, and have never even been on a full flight into, or out of, the airport.

And what about the suggestion that the airport limit private jet traffic? Sure. But all the gardeners, party planners, caterers, and everyone else who gets paid to pamper the people riding in those planes might be bummed when their July and August cocktail parties are cancelled, and the workers don’t get that extra cash to fund their off-season flights to Bali, Baja or New Zealand.
I’ve got an idea for a T-shirt we all need to wear, “Jackson Hole: Putting on a show for rich people for 100 years.”

Jackson Hole has relied on tourism for much of its history, and it can’t turn back now.

Expand our economic engine all you want, Jackson Hole Airport Board, so I can make money, have convenient travels around the world, and won’t have to spend the night in Salt Lake on a wad of Delta Airlines blankets, wishing I was in my bed – true story. JHW


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Planes, terminal floors & short runways | Planet JH News Article: Editorial

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