So why is it airports haven’t gotten with the times, to entice business travelers back?  For example, Phoenix Sky Harbor airport has free WiFi, but the terminals are outdated; you basically have to sit on the floor if you want to get an electrical outlet.  And their WiFi (when it works; lately it’s been working only about 70% of the time) is censored; nothing like trying to get to your corporate email when suddenly a Cisco popup says you can’t get to your email because your domain isn’t one that Cisco approves of.

Some of the best airports are the smaller ones.  I remember flying through Albuquerque back in 2006 and they had free WiFi, plus tables with electrical outlets and – get this – chairs!  You didn’t have to sit on the ground!  Portland International has probably 8 to 10 “business centers” that people can use.  And this week I went into the new Terminal 6 at LAX where Alaska Airlines just moved, and saw seats with electrical outlets everywhere.  WiFi wasn’t free, but at least paid WiFi isn’t censored WiFi.

So Airports: If you want to win us business travelers over, do something for us!  I now know I’ll travel through LAX more often than PHX, just because there are more options for us business travelers.

1. Like I posted before, the technology these machines use has not been proven to be safe for commercial use.
2. There are only 3 scanners for the busiest security checkpoint for the airport (the ABC gates clear passengers for nearly 65% of all PDX departures, with the top 3 airlines – Southwest, Alaska, and Horizon accounting for more than 50% themselves).

This is crap.  The machines aren’t safe, for the traveling public, nor for the TSA agents that are forced to stand next to them for hours at a time.

I think I’ll print out a few dozen copies of the Mashable article and leave them around the airport.  That, and obstruct their use at every chance.