Airport Secrets From an Architect Who Designs Them
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We'd like to see more airports not worry about budgets and focus on reinventing the airport experience, but that's probably not feasible in most places. Architects like HKS' Pat Askew do what they can to make travel more pleasurable with the resources they're given.
Editor's note: This series, called Airline Insiders, introduces readers to behind-the-scenes decision-makers for airlines. Unlike our ongoing airline CEO series, Future of the Passenger Experience, we will not question the highest-ranking executives here. Instead, we will speak with insiders who guide decisions on airline operations, networks, marketing, and the passenger experience.
Today, in the sixth installment of the series, we speak to an architect who has designed terminals at many of the world's largest airports.
You can read all the stories in the series here.
Years ago, when Pat Askew was in his mid-20s working for an architectural firm in St. Louis, his boss couldn't go to a meeting at St. Louis Lambert International Airport to discuss how to improve it.
He said, "Would you mind sitting in for me at this meeting?," Askew remembered. "It won't be much at all. Just sit and listen, and take notes, and behave."
At the time, Askew had never been on a commerc
