Letter: Airport leaves passengers with empty feeling

Friday, Jan. 11, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

This letter is about my experiences at McCarran Airport on Dec. 25.

My husband and I were scheduled to fly Northwest Airlines on the red-eye (1:15 a.m.) flight to Cincinnati the morning of Dec. 26. We were told to arrive early to go through security, etc., due to long lines at check-in and the security gates. We arrived early to check in and were pleasantly surprised to find no long lines at either place. It was only 7:50 p.m. and we had at least 5 hours until we were to board our flight.

Imagine our surprise to find that in the common area of the terminal neither of the restaurants was open. The A-B gate area is where the open restaurants were, so we decided we would go to Cheers for dinner. (Burger King, Cheers, etc., are all past the A-B security gates.) However, we were denied entrance into the A-B gate area since our boarding passes were for the D gates.

We then proceeded to the D gates, where we knew that there were a few eateries. When we got to the D gates, there were no restaurants open. Everything was shut down -- at 7:50 p.m.! Not even a place to purchase a soda. The only thing open was the bar. And the only food the bar had was hot dogs and chips ... at $4.99. One family had three children; hot dogs and drinks for the five of them was $30.

People were arriving at the Northwest area and numerous families were looking for something to eat and drink. Children were crying and the bar was jammed with families trying to get drinks and food. My husband and I are on special diets ... hot dogs are not on it. Because of the inconsideration to travelers on that day, we were unable to enjoy our stay at the airport.

SHERRYL J. ANCTIL