Private Welcome, Public Stickup

Two Times stories last month sharply illustrate the opposite reactions of a private company and some public airport agencies to the changing tastes and needs of the traveling public. Maybe the public agencies, which are, after all, financed by the travelers themselves, could learn a valuable lesson that would save us all money and time.

Reporter Julie Cart described how thousands of recreational vehicle owners, many on fixed incomes and tight budgets, are finding public campgrounds congested, too pricey or scarce. The result: These tourists camp overnight in distant corners of vast Wal-Mart parking lots, built large to handle anticipated future shoppers.

Now, how does Wal-Mart handle these uninvited crowds? It sends store greeters out to welcome them and announce that fresh coffee is brewing inside, where camping and travel supplies also await at discount prices (along with maps marked with the locations of other Wal-Mart stores).

On the adjacent page, Times reporter Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar wrote that many large public U.S. airports have become extremely congested at peak travel hours. Anyone rereading the newspaper with 200 new friends while parked in a large plane on a taxiway knows this. Last week Congress heard predictions that airport congestion could worsen this summer. The news is how some public airport agencies, built and operated with tax money from the folks who use them, propose to handle these annoying throngs of travelers: charge the airliners and ultimately the passengers a whole lot more money if they are present during busy hours. Officials of Los Angeles International deny considering this plan. But Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta actually likes the idea.

In the world of public agencies, charging more at peak times can seem sensible because on paper it boosts revenue even while shooing away some customers--one true sign of the arrogance of monopoly. If there’s one McDonald’s in town, it might jack up prices--until Wendy’s and Burger King arrive. Restaurants don’t charge more when they get busy. To do so would be a route to oblivion, a rejection of a competitive reality.

Public airports generally lack competition, but someone should at least remind these public monopolies that we’re not flying to keep airport managers employed. It’s the other way around.

Airport congestion is a serious problem. If local and federal airport authorities don’t come up with more serious-minded solutions than hiking rates during busy times, some folks might wonder why we don’t just land some planes in those Wal-Mart parking lots. They’re big enough. And Wal-Mart has a better attitude--and better coffee.