ZIH: An aviation throwback

Zihuatenejo / Ixtapa International Airport has the feel of the dawn of the jet age: a one-story ground-level terminal (modest control tower attached); a handful of jets taxiing into position and lining up in a straight row; mobile stairways being wheeled into position; passengers marching across the tarmac amid the clatter of baggage trucks and the whine of jet engines.

I don't know where you'll find this scene in the United States anymore. But you will find it at the smart little one-strip airport that serves the twin Mexican resort towns of Zihuatenejo and Ixtapa. I passed through this facility going in and out of the area during the last part of March, 2013 while on a family vacation.

The single sidewalk is for unloading and loading only.

The airport, the region's tourism lifeline, is set just a few miles inland from the Pacific coast, which is lined with spectacular beaches, most undeveloped. Viewed from the air, the landing strip stands out like a black skidmark in an overwhelmingly brown agricultural landscape. (It was the dry season when we visited.)

Once on the ground, our American Airlines MD-80 taxiied to the sole apron, guided in by an ebullient ground crew. I've never seen people so happy to be flagging a jet into position! We then had to wait until a mobile stairway was wheeled into position, a rarity these days.

Thus we had the thrill of experiencing the blamming mid-day heat and blinding sunshine of southern Mexico all at once as we stepped out of the aircraft and into the open air. Somehow this seems more satisfying to me than disembarking through a hermetically sealed jetway, where you might get a hint of the real climate outside before you're delivered into the controlled atmosphere of a terminal.

The terminal's one-level ticketing area boasts a highly polished tiled floor.

Customs and passport control is handled off to one side of the terminal building, and seemed pretty straightforward, but with one game show-like element. After getting your passports stamped, you press a Family Feud-like buttom to randomly determine if customs officials will inspect your baggage. A green light means go ahead; a red light means open your bags and prepare to be questioned.

The layout of things outside the terminal is refreshingly simple: a road looping in front of the building, a parking lot, some coconut trees, and that's about it. Arrivals and departures are all handled at the same curb.

For a large part of the day, shade is a valuable commodity.

I'm not sure what the service patterns are at ZIH. American currently runs only trip per week to the airport, a Saturday-only run out and back from its DFW hub. THe place seemed dead on the Saturday we arrived, but a week later for our departure, the place was hopping, with flights departing mid-day for several domestic Mexican cities as well as international flights such as Frontier to Denver, United to Houston, Delta to Atlanta, and AeroMexico to Chicago and New York.

So it was busy, but never seemed overcrowded. Things are a little disorganized in the waiting area, with not all flights listed and gate assignments changing seemingly on a whim. But the big glass windows looking out on the tarmac really made it all worthwhile. As we boarded, a security guard asked me to put away my camera, so no photos from crossing the tarmac.

Taxiing out, I was again impressed by the upbeat manner of the ground crew. It seemed like a real party out there, with them waving goodbye to us. Wish that kind of enthusiasm could be imported elsewhere!