"I know---we can barely cope with the 747s; but a thousand passengers arriving all at once at a check-in counter... God help us!" Tanya shuddered. "Can you imagine what it'll be like when they collect their baggage? I don't even want to think about it."
"Nor do a good many other people---who ought to be thinking about it, right now." He was amused to find that their conversation had already drifted into aviation. Airplanes and airlines held a fascination for Tanya, and she liked talking about them. So did Mel, which was one of the reasons he enjoyed her company.
"Which people aren't thinking?"
"Those who control policy on the ground---airport and air traffic. Most are acting as if today's jets will fly forever. They seem to believe that if everybody keeps quiet and still, the new, big airplanes will go away and not bother us. That way we needn't have ground facilities to match them."
Tanya said thoughtfully, "But there's a lot of building at airports. Wherever you go, you see it."
Mel offered her a cigarette and she shook her head negatively. He lit one for himself before answering.
"Mostly the building going on is patchwork---changes and additions to airports built in the 1950s or early '60s. There's little that's farseeing. There are exceptions---Los Angeles is one; Tampa, Florida, and Dallas---Fort Worth are others; they'll be the first few airports in the world ready for the new mammoth jets and supersonics. Kansas City, Houston, and Toronto look good; San Francisco has a plan, though it may get sunk politicatly. In North America there's not much else that's impressive."
"How about Europe?"
"Europe is routine," Mel said, "except for Paris---the new Nord airport to replace Le Bourget will be among the finest yet. London is the kind of inefficient mess which only the English can create." He paused, considering. "We shouldn't knock other countries, though; back home is bad enough. New York is frightening, even with changes being made at Kennedy; there simply isn't enough airspace above New York---I'm thinking of traveling there by train in future. Washington, D.C., is floundering---Washington National's a Black Hole of Calcutta; Dulles was a giant step sideways. And Chicago will wake up one day to find it let itself get twenty years behind." He stopped, considering. "You remember a few years ago, when the jets first started flying---what conditions were like at airports which had been designed for DC-4s and Constellations."
"I remember," Tanya said. "I worked at one. On normal days you couldn't move for the crowds; on busy days you couldn't breathe. We used to say it was like holding the World Series in a sand lot."
"What's coming in the 1970s," Mel predicted, "is going to be worse, far worse. And not just people congestion. We'll be choking on other things, too."
"Such as what?"
"Airways and traffic control for one, but that's another whole story. The really big thing, which most airport planning hasn't caught on to yet is that we're moving toward the day---fast---when air freight business will be bigger than passenger traffic. The same thing's been true with every form of transportation, starting with the birchbark canoe. To begin with, people are carried, plus a little freight; but before long, there's more freight than people. In airline business we're already closer to that than is generally known. When freight does get to be top dog---as will happen in the next ten years or so---a lot of our present airport ideas will be obsolete. If you want a sign of the way things are moving, watch some of the young men who are going into airline management now. Not long ago, hardly anybody wanted to work in air freight departments; it was backroorn stuff; passenger business had the glamour. Not any more! Now the bright boys are heading for air freight. They know that's where the future and the big promotions lie."
Tanya laughed. "I'll be old-fashioned and stick with people. Somehow freight..."
A waitress came to their table. "The special's off, and if we get many more people in here tonight, there won't be much else either."
They ordered coffee, Tanya cinnamon toast, and Mel a fried egg sandwich.
When the waitress had gone, Mel grinned. "I guess I started to make a speech. I'm sorry."
"Maybe you need the practice." She regarded him curiously. "You haven't made many lately."
"I'm not president of the Airport Operators Council any more. I don't get to Washington as much, or other places either." But it was not the whole reason for not making speeches