BWI & Pittsburgh

Wednesday, August 22, 2006 – 12:45 PM, EDT

I’m sitting in the terminal at Gate D-45 at BWI. It took close to an hour to get through security. The new security procedures in the aftermath of the foiled terrorist plot to detonate explosives on airplanes flying from Britain to the U.S. have slowed screening down. The bigger problem was the lack of open screening gates. Approximately 300 people were waiting to get through two screening gates and one air-puffer screening gate.

I don’t mind waiting a reasonable amount of time, so long as the line is moving and enough screening agents are working. But there were clearly not enough agents on hand today.

I’m flying BWI to Pittsburgh, then transferring planes and heading off to Hartford, CT. Both legs are flown by small regional jets. The weather is clear, with a bit of haze from pollution. Relatively good flying weather.

One of the biggest surprises was seeing a Roy Rogers fast food restaurant in the terminal. Roy Rogers was the dominant fast food chain in the DC-area for over 20 years. Then Hardees came along and bought the chain out, attempting to convert many of the stores from Roys to Hardees. That effort failed miserably. Hardees eventually sold many of the former Roys restaurants to McDonald’s. And now Mickey D’s is the dominant chain in DC. A group of independent Roys owners got together and bought out the remaining restaurants and have been working towards keeping the chain active. Last I heard, there are about 100 locations in PA, MD and VA.

Speaking of which, it’s time for lunch. I think I’ll give the Roy Rogers Roast Beef sandwich a try!

Pittsburgh Airport 2:30 PM

The flight from BWI to Pittsburgh was quick – about 35 minutes. I driven to Pittsburgh a number of times, but have never flown in. I was surprised to see a Pennsylvania National Guard base with a half dozen cargo planes sitting on the tarmac. And I was pleasantly surprised with the airport terminal.

Most airport terminals are very functional. A lot of gates and chairs, a few small shops and a few fast food restaurants. The Pittsburgh airport looks more like a shopping mall. There are a number of shops, restaurants ranging from fast food to mid-quality dining and a lot of space to move about. It was quite nice.

Hartford Airport 6:30 PM

The flight from Pittsburgh to Hartford was smooth. Flight time was a little over an hour. I’m waiting for my co-worker, who got delayed on another flight. We are supposed to catch up with some other co-workers for dinner tonight.