As Bob Dylan sang it, “the times they are a changin’.”

One recent report from Aviation Week and Space Technology discusses the potential of using eVTOL for intercity air service. The Bristol, England-based Vertical Aerospace company has announced that it has such plans.

This is, of course, just one of many possible—probable?—changes that will affect the future of airports. The question is not “will” airport futures change, but in what “way” will they change.

The plans, dreams, and hopes of Uber and Lyft alone could change things dramatically.

Change of subject…

I just received a report from Airports Council International regarding the world’s top performing airports. I checked the ten airports selected in North America. To my surprise, not a single chosen airport was one of the giants such as DFW, ORD or ATL.

I find that fascinating. Are size and quality mutually exclusive when it comes to airports? If so, why so?

Another change of subject…

There seems to be an ever-growing interest in the airport as a shopping mall, and we can all see the importance of this. I’ve thought about the items I bought at airports during my heavy traveling decades and was amazed: food, beverages, magazines, books and newspapers, of course, in addition to electronics, clothes, batteries, over-the-counter medicines, flowers, cards, cuff links, and a thousand other things you have not dreamed of.

Shopping is obviously a growth opportunity for airports. I am reminded of Bill Veeck, the baseball club owner who became an expert on boosting sales at his games—he even changed the lights over concession stands to make women look prettier. He didn’t win all of his games, but he made one helluva profit.