Without a doubt Grand Central Terminal in New York City became the most famous. Its huge concourse marked by the star-studded ceiling above and the famous, round, shiny information booth below its spacious hallways extending out in every direction to connect with office buildings, hotels, and stores and its countless shops and restaurants have made it a landmark. It has been said that a person could live in a hotel with an underground entrance to Grand Central and obtain everything he or she needed without ever going outdoors.
Today other large sprawling terminals at major airports offer a wide variety of services and stores. One can walk seemingly forever from one end to the other of Chicago's O'Hare Airport terminal, while in other large and newer terminals, connecting airline passengers ride in people movers or monorail trains.
TODAY'S TERMINALS
Any weekday at five o'clock visit Seattle's ferry terminal, one of Chicago's commuter railroad terminals, or the mammoth New York Port Authority Bus Terminal. As you watch the thousands of men and women rushing to catch ferries, planes, trains, or buses, you will realize what important places terminals can be. Even the small terminal in Vermont's White River Junction, which serves Greyhound and Vermont Transit buses, can be a hectic place as frantic passengers run up to the single window for tickets or information and the loudspeaker blares "Last call for New York City on platform three." The difference between this terminal and the one in New York is a matter of size, but the operations and problems are similar.
What is a modem terminal? Simply stated it is a place from which passengers, freight, and express depart and arrive. Whatever form of transportation it may serve, a terminal must supply facilities for loading and unloading passengers and freight, and in the case of a passenger terminal, provide waiting rooms, restaurant and comfort facilities, as well as ready access to ground transportation. In addition it should be possible to fuel, clean, provision, and repair the planes, trains, vehicles, or ships. Thus a wide range of workers is needed to provide all the services required.
The organization and management of terminals vary widely. At a large airport each airline may have its own terminal, which is part of the overall complex. At a small airport the terminal may serve two or three airlines but have a consolidated ticket office with baggage handlers, mechanics, and fleet service workers. These workers are employees of the terminal company. Some bus terminals offer consolidated services with two or more lines using the facilities. One group of employees provides all the necessary services in the case of railroads or ferries, where usually only one carrier arrives and departs.
Whatever the arrangements, they are of little consequence to you if you are investigating career possibilities at a terminal. However, you should bear in mind that if you are a mechanic, for example, you might find that the terminal management has no such job openings because each of the carriers uses its own employees. On the other hand, were you interested in a reservation or ticketing position, you might learn that the terminal company provides these services to all the carriers, and it is the place to apply. The best way to discover what job openings there are is to visit the terminal's personnel office.
We have already covered the career opportunities available with each of the major forms of transportation. As for terminals, regardless of who owns or manages them, they all must maintain grounds and roads do maintenance for which carpenters, electricians, plumbers, painters, and other crafts workers are required and provide security and clerical functions. There is also opportunity for unskilled laborers, typists, accountants, and computer specialists.
In large terminals there is a need for a public relations staff, specialists in personnel, planners, and purchasing agents. The top positions would be those of manager and assistant manager, posts for which several years of experience are required.
Most terminals rent space to concessions: restaurants, newsstands, car rental agencies, gift shops, and in large city terminals, stores of all kinds. Working in a restaurant or store would provide temporary employment and give you an opportunity to check for other openings in the field you want to enter.
TRAVELER'S AID
In most large terminals you will find a desk in or near the waiting room where arriving travelers can easily spot it and its sign: "Traveler's Aid Society." These services date back to 1851 when the mayor of St. Louis saw the need to help travelers headed west who were stranded in the city. He paid to set up a service to help those who were penniless, homeless, starving, lost, or in need of a job or counseling.
Today more than ninety agencies in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico have paid staffs and volunteers to help the two and a half million men and women-who include runaway juveniles and immigrants as well as the unemployed, sick, disabled, homeless, disoriented, and stranded traveler-who seek help each year.
