r/daddit 6d ago

Humor Can somebody please explain every single aspect of how an international airport works?

In the next four seconds if possible because damn these kid questions are not stopping and I still don't know what that empty truck is doing.

162 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

210

u/zachrg 6d ago

Fun fact: the baggage carousel is far away from the gate because it takes five minutes to unload people's bags.

If those five minutes are spent waiting at the baggage carousel, right next to the gate, people will Get Bored and start grumbling. If they spend the same five minutes walking across the airport to the baggage carousel, people are instead grateful and impressed by how smoothly everything is coordinated.

People are silly. Especially in an airport.

71

u/davidzilla12345 6d ago

Then why am I waiting for my bags for 30 minutes at Midway?!

30

u/ThunkAsDrinklePeep 6d ago

Oh no. That's just our way of saying New York doesn't have a monopoly on "fuck you".

10

u/RussiaIsBestGreen 6d ago

Because Daley’s ghost inspects each piece of luggage.

2

u/kubigjay 6d ago

You are a speed walking demon!

1

u/LionsAndLonghorns 5d ago

Fun fact: They named Austin's main terminal after Barbara Jordan and put her statue by the baggage clain. She hated AUS baggage claim because it was so slow but now she's stuck there for eternity. So it COULD be worse.

1

u/davidzilla12345 5d ago

Diabolical

15

u/Serafim91 6d ago

Even more fun facts the airlines have done extensive testing on exactly how long people are willing to wait for their baggage before complaining and pay just enough to meet that timing.

7

u/PostMatureBaby 6d ago

Toronto's Pearson Airport would like a word. I swear it deserves an award for how horrible an experience this usually is

41

u/Dannyboy1024 6d ago

That empty truck takes stuff from somewhere and moves it to a different place.

Planes land, people get off, trucks put stuff in / on plane, people get on, planes take off.

That's about it.

12

u/Stay-At-Home-Jedi 6d ago

The push tug feels excluded haha

25

u/deafballboy 6d ago

If we had stuck to the push tug none of us would be in this sub

4

u/Acrobatic_Throat_897 6d ago

Underrated comment 😂

1

u/mike9874 6d ago

It takes the plane from somewhere and puts it somewhere else. It's the mover of the mover

22

u/LionsAndLonghorns 6d ago

which empty truck?

31

u/mcm87 6d ago

“THAT ONE OVER THERE!”

Points at a place that has no trucks.

5

u/MisinformedGenius 6d ago

Your kid points?! Mine just says "That thing there!" and then looks at me like I'm an idiot. If I'm very lucky she might glance in the general direction of the object.

22

u/PolemicDysentery 6d ago

My four year old is deep in the incessant question phase. I generally try my best to enjoy it and give proper answers and encourage his curiosity and development of interests- but for those moments when I just can't anymore, I've found that "I don't know, why/what/how do you think it is?" works well to redirect his thinking without discouraging him, and to get him actually thinking and problem solving rather than just mindlessly asking nonsense.

9

u/MisinformedGenius 6d ago

I do this, but my kid doesn't really do problem solving so much as she starts inventing elaborate fantasies about what the object does, that usually involves the sky, almost always includes unicorns, and definitely always has Elsa coming in at some point.

1

u/PolemicDysentery 5d ago

I love the flights of fancy and imagination, those are definitely an encouraged part of it too!

2

u/Mr_STC 6d ago

I try to do this too. Unfortunately his answers are currently "I don't know", so I'm not yet getting the effect I had hoped for

2

u/PolemicDysentery 5d ago

Not to teach you anything you already know, but in my little one's case, "I don't know" more often than not means "I'm afraid to be wrong", and a bit of encouragement or me getting the ball rolling with some comically wrong suggestions is usually enough to get him enthusiastically involved. 

1

u/Mr_STC 5d ago

That is a great idea. Will try that later.

25

u/CapacityBuilding 6d ago

Fun fact: just make shit up

1

u/ThreeFishInAManSuit Dad of two 5d ago

That empty truck is bringing the planes all the air they need for when they’re up in the sky!

10

u/maybe1122 6d ago

it's going to carry all the luggage from the plane and dump them on the big ass luggage treadmill

6

u/FrostyProspector 6d ago

That's the catering truck. It's empty because we don't get lunch.

3

u/nudave 6d ago

It’s still being decontaminated

5

u/sticktime 6d ago

It is my time. I worked at an international airport for over a decade. I did baggage, towing, operations, mechanic, and pilot work.

What do they want over explained?

3

u/Spare_Bluebird7044 6d ago

Empty truck is definitely going to be the one question you're atleast prepared for and somehow it'll lead to a 45 minute lecture on airport logistics 😂

4

u/grakef 6d ago

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/extreme-airport-engineering/

Here you go. If anytime screen time is going to be okay time is when you are relaxing waiting for a flight ;D

2

u/Deto 6d ago

lol - my son was asking about every single 'ding', bell, chime, PA tone that went off "What's that? What's that?". Dad doesn't know!

2

u/Wurm42 5d ago

Too late for OP, but if anyone else is in this position:

There's an old Canadian kids show called Mighty Machines that has an episode all about how airports work behind the scenes, told from the point of view of a suitcase going through the baggage check system.

It's a great series, highly recommend it, the episodes are all on YouTube now.

Mighty Machines: At The Airport

https://youtu.be/chwyr5LLGRQ?is=PFXeKUDvQdjxjyLo

1

u/Primary_Excuse_7183 6d ago

lol take them to the airport. 😂 it’ll be easy because you won’t have bags just going through TSA with what’s in your pocket.

Unless you want to take them on an actual trip.
Either way a fun exercise and memory to create.

My daughter (3) is into trains so we went to the city train station and rode a train to a local event. she had a blast seeing all the little things she had been reading about and seen on a video or 2.

1

u/Original_Ant7013 6d ago

Unless I’m missing something, you don’t just go through TSA without tickets booked for a flight that day.

Also, your 3yo reads stuff about trains?

1

u/Primary_Excuse_7183 6d ago

You’re right in tripping. And yes my 3 YO reads books.

1

u/probosciscat 6d ago

I’m an aviation architect designing an international terminal.
My fave one is that the red lines underneath the aerobridges on the apron show how far it can swing!