THE BOW TIMES VOL 23, NO. 9 September 2016 FREE 6 TALK - FLYING OUT OF MANCHESTER BY CHASE BINDER

If you’ve been in central New stairs and escalators! And for fun, enough to take to the skies. Hampshire as long as Bud and I the observation area (closed dur- When I travel I think about have (say, 35+ years), you might ing construction) will re-open with staying connected and keeping my have a memory or two of the old added features. Work began in April tummy full. MHT was one of the Manchester . Remember the and will be completed by Thanks- first to have free Wi-Fi and those small, low-ceilinged place with no giving. Meantime, screening might uber-convenient charging/seating carousel—just some doors take a bit longer, so Malafronte sug- areas, and Malafronte says more that opened onto a metal slide? gests allowing two hours for check- are coming. As for food, the re-do Baggage handlers tossed your bags in, especially during peak travel of the security screening area will though the doors and they slithered times. include re-vamping access to the down and landed on the floor in a But there’s more. If you’re a nearby concessions. In addition, the heap. Security checkpoints? Not so nursing mom, there’s been a private airport stand-by Hudson News has much! room on the lower level for a while. re-branded as Hudson with much Fast forward three or four de- But now there’s an extremely cool expanded offerings including (yay!) cades and Manchester Airport and private “Mamava” nursing suite a great selection of “grab and go” (MHT) is a whole new world—a (visit mamava.com) on the secure eats to take on the plane. world that began with the opening side of the airport near 6. You can learn lots more at fly- of the new terminal in 1994. I re- Chase Binder And there’s been an outside pet manchester.com, but I’ll leave you member being elated to have mod- relief area at the north end of the air- with one word to describe manage- ern check-in counters and even “our mission is to look for ways port for some time, but now there’s ment’s approach—thoughtful. The three “real” baggage carousels. to make travel more efficient and a pet relief are inside the airport (se- next time you fly MHT, you’ll real- From then on, MHT hit a new mile- convenient.” I won’t bore you cure side, lower level near Gates 4 ize that somebody actually thought stone about every 5 years. In 1999 with info on longer runways, solar & 5). This will be great for service things through. Imagine! the parking garage opened (no more projects to reduce energy costs and dogs or people who have dogs small shoveling snow off your car!) and such—though, trust me, there’s lots 2 million passengers used MHT. to talk about. Nope, I’ll go right to In 2006, that number hit a record stuff that impacts how easy it is to 4.3 million passengers and the fol- navigate the airport and how com- lowing year MHT was officially fortable and convenient the place is. re-named Manchester-Boston Re- Last week, for example, I want- gional Airport. ed to greet inbound friends from Turns out that the 4.3 million Florida personally. I could have high point was the result of some used the popular cell phone lot, confounding variables. In the early waited for them to call and picked 2000’s Boston’s Big Dig had the them up curbside, but I wanted to effect of diverting a lot of Boston surprise them in the airport itself. traffic to MHT. Low-cost breakout I zipped into the newly-reopened Southwest Air was flying out of hourly parking lot and ran into the Manchester, but not Boston---yet. terminal—an easy 2-3 minute walk. In 2006 and the years after, South- Try that in Boston! west moved into Boston. The Big The hourly lot had been closed Dig wrapped up. Some Boston folks while the rental car desks were went back to their “own” airport. moved from the area adjacent to the We had the market crash of 2008 main baggage claim to the lower and the beginning of many level of the parking garage. The consolidations and other industry spiffy new area is a much more ef- changes. ficient pick-up and drop-off area CAR RENTALS AT MANCHESTER AIRPORT Passenger levels have now sta- and, happily, makes room for an in- bilized at around 2.3 million, give coming Starbucks near the baggage or take. Disaster for our own MHT? claim. Sweet! Not hardly. Management saw what Most noticeable is a significant was happening, kept a careful eye “passenger flow improvement” on the industry, and approached project to upgrade and expand the improvements and expansion with TSA screening area at the top of common sense and fiscal respon- entrance escalators in the main ter- sibility. Instead of wringing their minal area. This will consolidate the Carpet Rug Upholstery hands (or worse, over-building), two separate screening areas into they kept investing in key improve- one more efficient area—easier to Wood Floors Tile & Grout ments for passenger safety, security staff, easier (and safer) for passen- 603-637-9893 Mention this ad and and comfort. As Tom Malafronte, gers. More room for queuing, so no Receive $30 off your the airport’s Deputy Director says, more lines snaking back down the Located in Bow, NH Next residential service

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