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There's no escaping today's new travel equation: The more the airlines utilize their hub-and-spoke systems, the more we passengers will find ourselves "in transit," endlessly hanging around airports waiting for our connecting flights.
This particular brand of enforced downtime becomes especially irritating to travelers on business, go-getters who loathe wasting even a little time.
Now more than ever, the private airline clubs are in a position to help soothe these grounded travelers. Long established as havens, removed from the confusion and overcrowding of main terminal concourses, today's savvier airline clubs are tuning in to the time-specific needs of travelers. The airlines are providing a selection of conveniently located clubs (usually inside the security area, assuring speedy access to gates) and beefing up these centers with such business-friendly services as facsimile and copying machines, a message center, conference rooms and private work areas, multi-lingual secretaries on call, reference libraries, check-cashing capabilities, luggage-checking facilities and free local calls.
New York, with its three major airports, is an ideal proving ground for any airline testing new ways to woo the business traveler with time on his or her hands.
"Competition is fierce (at our airports)," says John Clark, manager...