More Business People Battling Wait Problem

Every business traveler knows this painful fact: Traveling is not half the fun of getting there.

And, as increasing numbers of business travelers are discovering, trips are taking longer.

What’s more, when they arrive at a destination, the waiting is worse.

According to a recent survey, the average person spends five years waiting in lines, and six months sitting at traffic lights.

It’s not much better in the air. Lufthansa, for example, reports that its aircraft spent more than 5,200 hours in holding patterns over Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf last year, costing the airline more than $25 million.

It’s estimated that the average business executive spends 29 days per year traveling, much of that time waiting at airports or stuck in airplanes.

In fact, the average business traveler spends 21 days a year simply locked “in transit.” Air-traffic delays, overbookings, mechanical malfunctions and weather have combined to create long, boring waits for many passengers at domestic and international airports.

But there is a bright side to all this. There are, for instance, the humorous stories that result.

Last year, Eastern Airlines was going to honor one of its most loyal business travelers, Michael Cohen, an insurance executive. Before his 2,000th trip on Eastern, the airline announced it would award Cohen a special plaque.

The airline called a press conference. However, the plane, which was to fly Cohen from Miami to New York City, broke down before Cohen could board, and his flight was delayed about three hours.

Compounding the problem, the airline towed away the broken plane and replaced it with another that had been scheduled to fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a result, 256 people on the San Juan flight also were delayed three hours.

Elsewhere, when a Central African airline overbooked one of its flights by 40 people, a riot nearly broke out. The problem was solved temporarily, when the local police chief arrived.

He lined up the passengers, and ruled that passage on the flight would be given to anyone who could run around the plane three times. The race started and the winners afterward boarded the plane. The flight left only two hours late.

Then there was the upscale business traveler who figured out an effective, albeit expensive, way to beat jet lag. When Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abulaziz Alsaud, along with his wife, two children and a 17-person entourage, arrived for an eight-day vacation in South Carolina, he decreed that he did not want to be affected by jet lag.

The prince had the Hilton Hotel install $4,000 worth of lights and a volleyball court so that he and his family could maintain their natural body clocks and still be on local Riyadh time. Not only was there a lot of midnight volleyball and swimming, but lunch was served each morning at 2 a.m.

Not everyone has princely resources, however, but there are airports around the world that make delays less uncomfortable for travelers.

If you’re flying to Europe, for example, try to land in Copenhagen. At Kastrup Airport, 70% of all operations belong to SAS, one of the most efficient airlines in the world. The airline also handles the other 30%, which belong to 43 international carriers.

Most travelers find the renovated and redesigned 23-year-old terminal--and its 30 check-in counters--an efficient operation. For one thing, there are plenty of free baggage carts.

The redesign of the terminal included an emphasis on shopping and restaurants for layover passengers.

Some airports around the world are labyrinthine. Not Amsterdam’s Schiphol. It is one of Europe’s most negotiable airports.

Frankfurt-Main Airport, meanwhile, boasts one of Europe’s most complete shopping centers.

The 100-shop Frankfurt complex opens early and closes late. Stores sell everything from smoked salmon to stuffed toy bears. There are 30 restaurants, two supermarkets, antique and modern art stores, a Harrods, a pharmacy, a dry cleaners, a locksmith and a shoemaker.

Also, four movie theaters, a discotheque, the biggest airport medical clinic in the world (three doctors and a staff of 50) and a dentist.

Perhaps that’s why more than 4,000 non-travelers visit the airport each day. For those who get tired, there are hotels within the airport perimeter.

But no one sleeps during layovers at the Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates. They tend to hit the ground running and head immediately for the airport’s duty-free shopping complex--22,000 square feet of the world’s most intense (and inexpensive) shopping experiences.

My late-night flight stopped there recently on the way to London from Asia. As I exited the plane, aircraft from Ghana, India, Ethiopia, West Germany, Amsterdam, the Soviet Union, England and Singapore lined the Tarmac, each unloading passengers.

Since Dubai is a duty-free port, the complex offers products at low prices.

Real bargains can be found on high-ticket items: a Rolex Oyster watch for $500, perfume up to 40% cheaper than anywhere else, half a kilo of beluga caviar for $90 and gold sold by weight.

There is a special room for Cuban cigars, and even a fur shop, where a mink coat sells for $1,800.

“We’re the best excuse for a layover,” John Sutcliffe, deputy general manager of the complex, said, “and we never close.”

Last year, the airport sold more than $47 million worth of duty-free items, including a ton of caviar and more than 40 tons of Tobler chocolates.

Not long ago, an airplane from LOT, the Polish airline, landed in Dubai on a flight from Delhi. The passengers rushed the store, cash in hand.

An hour later, the plane was almost overweight when it roared down the runway toward its final destination in Warsaw. In just 60 minutes, the passengers had purchased 589 videocassette players and 78 cases of Scotch.

If you get stuck at the Rome airport with a few hours to kill, there’s no need to despair. Airport officials are now offering free historical tours for waiting passengers.