Dear Editor,
We’ve just returned from our annual 3-week stay on the island, and I’d like to propose something that would be of benefit to all of us.
Have your tourism officials, PJIA management and building designers pack two suitcases full and then go through departure processing between the hours of 1:30-3:30pm.
As they enter the building, have them try to determine where the American Airlines ticket counter is, using only building signage. Then have them wait at the airline counter like everyone has to do.
Once they've done this, send them up a level to security, where the lines and wait are much longer. Make sure they take note of how poor (almost non-existent) the air-conditioning is on the second level.
After they've spent 30-45 minutes there, tell them they now must go to the departure waiting areas to experience firsthand the lack of air-conditioning at both ends of the building. Be sure to tell them that they need to spend at least an hour in the waiting areas, and they should try to find chairs so they can sit during the wait.
It is obvious to me as a visitor to the island many times over the past two decades that these people have no clue how inadequate the seating is or how badly the climate control is working. Then have these “tourists” ask themselves a simple question: “Is this really the kind of final impression we want these thousands of visitors to have of their island vacations?”
Frank Absher
