End of an Era: Syracuse Airport Says Goodbye to Odd Exit Portals

It's the end of an era at a Central New York airport. The Syracuse Hancock International Airport announced this week that those odd, sometimes even controversial, exit pods will be no longer.

If you've ever traveled through Syracuse, you know exactly what we're talking about. The exit tubes look high-tech, some might even say like a scientific test tube. But the execution? That's a whole other story.

The idea is that as passengers exit the airport, they individually enter the pods and exit to the hallway beyond. But, as many people, including myself, can attest to from personal experience, the pods take a little bit of time. On more occasions than one, I've gotten a little worried about being trapped in one of the pods because it took so long to open once I stepped in.

Syracuse International is saying goodbye to the sci-fi tubes and ushering in what it called "a MUCH more modern [and] efficient exit hallway system," although we don't know what that will look like quite yet.

Renovations are starting with Terminal B, so passengers arriving on Delta or United flights will have to take a short detour for the time being in order to get to the public side.

Travelers didn't hesitate to let the airport know their thoughts (and make jokes) as soon as the airport announced the change Monday morning.

"We're gonna invent doors," Twitter user George Dibble wrote.

Marcello Prattico thanked the airport for the change and said "it was always so jarring going through those after arriving on a late night flight."

However, not everyone is exactly thrilled with the airport's removal of the pods.

"They were ok with me," Twitter user @BlossBarb wrote. "I don't think they should waste the money on something else now."