Arriving back at Honolulu International Airport late yesterday afternoon was, once again, a rather sobering experience.

We were on a United Airlines flight, so a caveat is in order. Honolulu Airport offers two different airport experiences. When we flew to New Zealand earlier this year, the flight left from a gate on the far ewa end of the airport. It was a different world from the airport we regularly see. Much more modern, many more shops, etc., etc. So the following comments apply to the Diamond Head end of the airport where the United gates are located.

Our flight landed at about gate 9, and we deplaned out onto the United concourse and walked out to the sidewalk, where we were greeted by HNL’s version of airport information.

It was the driver of the Wiki-Wiki bus, which shuttles passengers over to baggage claim and the inter island terminal. He was seated in the bus, but leaning out the window and shouting out directions, which were largely unintelligible. I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Was he yelling angrily at someone? Shouting out information? It really wasn’t clear. First contact with the visitor, a shouting man. The sound of the islands?

In contrast, when our shuttle bus dropped us off at the baggage claim level of the Denver airport, we had to take an escalator up to the ticketing lobby, so large that it was split into East and West sections. We were looking at a large map at the top of the escalator and were soon approached by an airport information person offering to help. He quickly sent us off in the right direction with a smile and a wave.

In Honolulu? Not so much.

We chose to skip the Wiki-Wiki and walk to baggage claim. When you get to the main part of the terminal building, you get to the escalators that take you down to the baggage claim area. There are two escalators. One was blocked off and out of order. I wish I could say this is unusual, but in our experience it’s quite common. It would be interesting to review the airport’s maintenance records to see how often this is the case and how long it takes for the escalators to be repaired when they go down.

There was a sign in front of the other escalator, but it worn out and damaged, with much of the lettering scratched off or faded away, and you really couldn’t make out what it said as you passed by.

Downstairs was another sign on plain paper or thin board, encased in plastic, that was also worn out and damaged, an apparently temporary sign simply left up for permanent display and not on any replacement cycle. I think it was agricultural item warning about what can’t be brought in.

Then, through the glass doors to the baggage claim area.

Like many arriving passengers, I went to the nearest restroom. This is on the end where most United passengers arrive. I’m not sure about the women’s restroom, but the men’s features a total of two urinals.

I can’t think of a major airport I’ve visited anytime in recent years that greets visitors with a tiny facility like this in a major, heavily used area.

Across the street, half of the main parking structure is closed while they do some kind of upgrade project. Big CIP projects seem to eventually get done at the airport.

But here in the terminal, at least on the Diamond Head end, there seems to be virtually no care for the small stuff that actually makes a difference to passengers in practice.

Most other modern airports provide sitting areas where mobile devices can be recharged, as well as free wifi for visitors. I keep reading that Honolulu is working on it, but in this global competition, that isn’t good enough.

These are problems that obviously have spanned state administrations and political parties. Why are we so bad at keeping our airport up to date?