by Eddie Pipkin
Flying around to unfamiliar cities in the past couple of weeks made me acutely aware of the amenities and atmosphere of airports. Here is the revelation I had: Airports assume everyone is a visitor. All the signage and all the processes are geared towards first-time users. Obviously, most people are not first-timers at airports in general, but it’s not unusual for them to be first-timers at a particular airport. The only exclusive “in-club” areas are branded airline VIP lounges and TSA pre-check lines. For the rest of us, the experience (although famously variable in quality) is intended to be as helpful as possible from top to bottom as we navigate unfamiliar territory with confidence and, as much as possible, comfort. Local churches could learn a lot from the airport mindset.
Airports environments are interesting to analyze. Much of the airport experience is familiar from city to city, although each airport has its own idiosyncrasies and distinctive personality. People who are frequent fliers have f