Smoking in airports

No extra smoking – quickly – at Salt Lake City Int’l Airport

Smoking,

Salt Lake City International Airport Smoking lounge

According to current report from the Centers for Disease Control, the smoking rate within the U.S. is on the decline: in 2015, 15 percentage of U.S. adults smoked, down two percentage from 2014 – the most important decline in more than two decades.

That may be one of the reasons Salt Lake City International Airport, which for years promoted its five post-security smoking rooms as a comfort for people who smoke making connections, has announced a agenda for snuffing out the ones lounges.

The first living room will near July five, at the cease of the Independence Day weekend, and the last lounge will close the week of December 19, just as the Christmas vacation travel rush starts offevolved.

“This is first and major an problem of public fitness, both for travelers and our airport employees,” Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski stated in a May statement announcing the closure.

But she also stated that the “beyond potential” airport changed into in dire want of the extra area.

“[E]very foot of to be had area need to be used to the great benefit of the touring public,” stated Biskupski, mentioning retail area, charging stations and additional seating as feasible uses for the 1,two hundred rectangular toes in order to be freed up by means of the closure of the SLC smoking lounges.

Going ahead, the Salt Lake City mayor mentioned that smoking rooms are not covered inside the contemporary designs for the airport’s $1.eight billion terminal redecorate application, which has a scheduled phase one crowning glory date of 2020.

Response to the front room closure at SLC airport announcement has been combined, said SLC spokeswoman Nancy Volmer.

“I fly frequently through SLC on enterprise and use the rooms each time,” one passenger wrote in an e-mail shared by means of airport authorities, “I figured at the moment would come…What a permit-down.”

Public health advocates and different corporations are applauding the airport’s selection.

“This pass will protect people and passengers alike from exposure to secondhand smoke.” stated Cynthia Hallett, President and CEO, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, and places SLC in excellent organization: greater than 600 U.S. airports at the moment are 100 percent smoke loose.

Eliminating airport smoking lounges can also assist improve the country’s economic backside line, stated Brook Carlisle, Utah Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network,

“It’s anticipated that the once a year health care costs directly because of smoking in our state will attain $542 million this 12 months,” stated Carlisle, “not to say the $355 million in prices from smoking-related misplaced work productivity.”

Noting that “We’ve had #SmokefreeSkies since 1990,” even U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy sent SLC a congratulatory Tweet:

In May, 2015 Murthy has put up a thumbs-down picture status out of doors a smoking room at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

While SLC is last its lounges, there are other primary U.S. airports, including Washington Dulles, Hartfield Jackson Atlanta International, Denver International Airport, Nashville International, Miami International Airport and McCarran Airport in Las Vegas that still have smoking lounges and/or different regions in which smoking is authorized interior.

(A barely extraordinary model of my tale on smoking lounges at airports first seemed on NBC News )

Smoking in airports: thumbs up or down?

Air Travel, Smoking, ,

Every few years I do a review of the nation of smoking lounges in airports.

 

The remaining one – for my “At the Airport” column on USATODAY.com – became back in 2009. Times – and rules about smoking in public places – trade, so I’m planning to do another airport smoking survey soon.

It absolutely remains a warm subject matter. Here’s an excerpt from a word Ramona Mccarty sent me these days after locating that 2009 column.

I am a smoker and have been for a long term, you are proper while you said that rudeness is a part of the problem consider that! DFW is one of the essential airports I use and it isn't always smoker pleasant, if I may want to get into Dallas some other way I could wherein smoking is not considered a criminal offense! best an addiction, an addiction that desires to be fed in any other case you get grumpy, imply people, who otherwise are not like that, but due to the fact they are able to’t support their addictions this is how WE turn out. I am going to attempt Dallas Love Field due to the fact they are smoker friendly with out harming non-people who smoke, due to the fact that is not our intentions.

Our cash for purchasing and flying is just as accurate as non people who smoke so wheres the red meat?! we aren’t asking to blow smoke in peoples faces we're just asking for a proper to feed our dependancy, like humans eating and diners, consuming espresso and cafes, alcoholics and bars, shopaholics and clothes stores, people who smoke and smoking unique regions, snap! Helllooo.

What do you watched? Should greater airports offer smoking lounges for passengers?  Should towns that ban smoking in public places make exceptions for airports?

(Photo courtesy State Library of  New South Wales, thru Flickr Commons)