I had an excess of time to kill before a flight at YYC a few days ago – and it was one of only a handful of domestic flights I’ve taken out of there since the new ITB opened last fall.
I thought I'd take advantage of the time to wander all of concourses A, B and C and check out the domestic side of things.
My thoughts and observations … as I wandered like Tom Hanks from ‘The Terminal’:
Renovations at A gates 21-24:
Wow! This space is beautiful ... a great upgrade! These are the old domestic/transborder swing gates in the connector between the A and B concourses. They used to be utterly awful and dreary. Now, they're bright and airy (even with construction happening). And the new carpet is beautiful. A really cool hexagon carpet tile that's a massive improvement over the awful "1980s casino" carpet everywhere else in the domestic terminal.
Ignore the ugly construction hoarding here, but check out the new carpet:
Concourse B, now that U.S. segregation is out:
No updates, other than the segregating wall down the middle (underneath the old customs tunnel) is now removed. But what a difference! That concourse used to be an awful experience, largely because it felt like being in a claustrophobic Habitrail hamster cage. Losing that wall makes a big difference. It still looks dated, but the openness makes a big difference. (Utilization while I was there was pretty high – a lot of AC Express flights)
The C-70s departure experience.
From what I've heard and read, I thought the space there would be awful. It's not. In fact, it's kind of nice (albeit a bit drab and grey). The layout is a bit confusing and could overwhelm some passengers, with the golfcart system terminus and all of the arriving and departing tunnels, but - overall - it's a nice space.
Access to D and E concourse connections
Given YYC's penchant to
over-communicate in their interior signage (more below, in my rant on wayfinding!) I was surprised at how small, subtle and almost hidden the access to the D and E concourses is here. I'd have expected it to be a bit grander and more obviously highlighted?
Wayfinding signage:
A lot of changes to wayfinding signs in the domestic terminal so nice my last visit. Some good. Some pretty bad. And surprisingly a lot of inconsistency in signage (which itself is pretty bad in wayfinding).
Across the board, the wayfinding in YYC just strikes me as being ‘too much’ and over-complicated. It always has. Too much info on signs. Too much reliance on full sentences, and too little reliance on simple, universal iconography.
In so many large hubs around the world, wayfinding is beautiful in it’s utter simplicity. Here, the team seems to think that more is better. The paradox in wayfinding is always that signs with
less info are easier to digest and follow than signs with
more.
My first issue:
When did the word “Security” get plastered all over the domestic terminal? Oddly, signs in the check-in areas across all of A/B/C no longer direct you to Gates (or Portes).
Instead, they've all been changed to direct people to "Security". Why??
Sure, most people will probably get that, since ‘going through security’ has become vernacular for pre-board screening. But it's a really weird change ... and shows a pretty amateur understanding of wayfinding.
- Problem 1: There's a global standard for wayfinding in airports. It's the word “Gates”. Not "Security". No airport on the planet (at least none that I've seen) directs people to "Security". The norm is "Gates", even at airports where English isn't the first language on signage. In wayfinding, the rules say to stick to the norms because it’s what your users already understand and expect. Especially when there are global, well-understood standards at use in pretty much every other airport!
- Problem 2: “Security” means lots of different things in airports. Pre-board screening is only one of them. Police are also security. So are Commissionaires. (Ever seen the “sala de body scan” in the TV show “Airport Security”? Yep, that’s “Security” too!). Multiple meanings for a word? Don’t use it on wayfinding signage.
- Problem 3: Ultimate destination vs. interim points. One of the cardinal rules of wayfinding is that user understanding increases when you use the ultimate destination (i.e. ‘Gates’) on signage rather than an interim stop (‘Pre-board screening’, or ‘security’, or whatever). That’s why the signs on northbound Deerfoot say “to Edmonton” rather than “to Innisfail”)
(Not familiar with the TV show 'Airport Security'? Check it out...
http://www.natgeotv.com/za/shows/natgeo/airport-security-colombia and you'll see why "Security" is not a one-size-fits-all word in international airports!)
After scratching my head over that change to their wayfinding, I (admittedly)became a bit obsessed with their signage...
Signage inside the A concourse is generally well done. And sometimes brilliantly simple. (Why "brilliant"? In wayfinding, less is always more. Because 'more' almost always confuses)
One of the best signs I saw ... thanks to its clarity and simplicity:
Signage in B? Half-assed and much seems inconsistent with the rest of the terminal. (There’s one sign for passengers coming off of planes that directs them to concourses A and C only, with absolutely no mention of D or E. Whaaaa?)
Or this one!? Yep, I'm sure everyone who's a skyscraper.com regular (or a frequent flier, or an airport employee) will easily understand sign.
But what about the non-Calgarian, very infrequent flier, senior citizen vacationer who's trying to find their way? Yikes.
Hmmm. So if gates "A 1-24" are to the left, shouldn't it say that "C 50-73" are to the right? (To the unknowing, this sign actually says that A 1-24 are left, and A 50-73 are right.)
And the bottom row, in blue? That's the wayfinding equivalent of a big, fat run-on sentence, and just as confusing. And without any spacing on this line, would the unknowing traveler really be ably to quickly tell what's left versus right?
Let's see: "E" squished next to "American flag" squished next to "Air Canada logo" squished next to "luggage icon". With no spacing, and not much thought about making it easy to understand.
Yes, I get what they're trying to convey. And, no, it's not catastrophically bad. But it's not going to be easily understood by the noobs who actually need this info. They can and should do better than this amateur stuff.
Now on to Concourse C. Lots of “TMI” signs here, and some weird errors.
Coming in at C and connecting to anther flight? On the signs, the visual treatment for A and B concourses is, oddly, totally different than for D and E concourses. For some reason, the signs show D and E under a "Connections" title. But not A and B. Hmmm. That's odd. If I'm arriving at C and connecting to a flight leaving from B, aren't I still connecting? (When the signs point people to the other 4 concourses, all 4 of those concourses should be treated in the exact same way on those signs. The current system isn't unintelligible, but rather jumbly and strange!)
Entering at ‘C preboard screening’, and heading to either A or B? Oops, better back up! After you enter Concourse C through CATSA (and after crossing the tram crosswalk) you'll see a big sign guiding you to turn right to get to the A and B concourses. The problem: the sign comes about 15 or 20 feet after the hallway to A and B. About as effective as putting a highway exit sign after you've already passed the exit. Downright dumb placement.
Directions to "Lounges" … huh?? MLL? Aspire? Priority Pass??
Nope, we actually meant, uhh ...
In both A and C, these big overhead signs guide passengers to a "lounge". But they don't mean "airport lounges" or even plain ol' departure lounge seating. Instead, they apparently try to point people to "bars".
Sure. At one point they kinda meant something similar. But, come on, what does the word "lounge" mean to most people today, especially air travelers, particularly frequent fliers, and especially people in airports?? To most people in an airport, it absolutely does not mean "bar"!
Heck, I can't think of the last time I heard anyone use the word lounge in place of bar -- in any context. ("Hey, guys! Want to hit a lounge to watch the game?" said no-one ever.) And it's a big ditto for "salon", which they've used as the French translation for bar. ‘Salon’ really does not mean 'bar' in French either. In fact, it’s an even bigger leap in French.
C'mon guys. In an airport, users will understand the word 'lounge' to mean, we'll, a 'lounge'. Like Aspire, or Chinook, or Maple Leaf. Not a Chili's.
And that's another bit of weirdness. Those silly 'lounge' signs are really only pointing towards restaurants (that happen to serve alcohol). They're not even really 'lounges' like in the 1970s 'bar' sense of the word. You're just as likely to see a family eating breakfast at the C concourse Chilis 'lounge' as you are to see some guys downing a pint.
Prev
Source: 
Great to see! WestJet's growth has truly been remarkable. Any idea as to the capacity of the new hangar?
Linear Mode
