RIP: Bouncy Moving Walkways At SFO

While San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has gone from good to even better with its ongoing terminal connector project, I’m sorry to report a casualty: the bouncy moving walkways connecting Terminal 3 to the F Gates. Strange as this may sound to outsiders, every United Airlines frequent flyer who traveled through SFO will know what I am talking about.

SFO Bouncy Moving Walkways Are Now A Relic Of History

I flew through SFO last night and work is certainly progressing on new corridors that will link the F gates to other gates…SFO is one of my favorite airports in the country and the airport is user-friendly and thoughtfully laid out.

United Airlines operates out of Terminal 3 (and beyond) and for years the F Gates (they used to be numbered numerically) were the central hub of United mainline operations.

Oh, the trips I took….including flying Burbank – San Francisco – Philadelphia nearly every other Sunday night during my last half of law school. I knew that terminal like the back of my hand and there was one part of it I enjoyed in particular…the bouncy moving walkways.

These moving walkways were not your standard walkways. Instead, they were made of what appeared to be thick rubber…you could skip and hop down them and it would feel like walking on a trampoline.

Even Jennifer Garner loved them.

Last night, however, was their swan song. Today, the new terminal connectors open and with that comes the end of an era: the moving walkways will be blocked off and soon dissembled to make way for new gate construction.

Last night, I walked over them once more…and I may have taken a few laps…

I really get that it is hard to understand what the big deal is, but it is…it has been a part of my regular flying for 20 years and I will miss that…where else can you skip down a moving walkway? It was part of the familiar rhythm of my travels, much like my favorite seat on the plane.

My understanding is that Memphis (MEM) and Miami (MIA) may still have these moving walkways, though SFO is the only airport I have ever seen them at.

CONCLUSION

I’ll miss the bouncy moving walkways at SFO but I guess it was time for a terminal facelift. After all, the gates still have “No Smoking Beyond This Point” signs when smoking has only been banned for nearly 30 years…

What about before this point?

But I’ll miss them…

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