US airports bet on rocking chairs

If you have ever traveled to the US, you may have noticed that many airport departure lounges have rocking chairs there. What you may not know is that this is not just about comfort.

The Verge recently published a text explaining the relationship of rocking chairs to Uncle Sam's land airports. According to the publication, about 40 US airports have rocking chairs available to passengers in the departure lounge.

One of those responsible for this is a guy named Champ Land, who, with the help of his wife Jean, runs Thoutman Chairs, a network that sells rocking chairs in North Carolina, where the new trend began.

Tradition

There, the chairs are known by Kennedy Rockers, thanks to the fact that John F. Kennedy used to sit in rocking chairs to relieve back pain. The politician was in love with rocking chairs and placed them in various rooms not only from his home, but also from government agencies such as the Air Force.

The chairs used by Kennedy had a different shape. They were tall and straight, with wooden straps that make the spine straight and a more curved accent to make the experience comfortable. The chairs available at US airports follow the same pattern and are usually painted white.

Start

The peculiar tradition began in 1997 at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, when a photographic exhibition showed a series of photos of these chairs - in front of the images, there were real chairs. When the exhibition was over, both the photos and the chairs were removed, which upset the passengers. "We didn't realize how popular they were until we pulled them out, " said Haley Gentry, the airport's managing director.

Since then, rocking chairs have become popular not only at Charlotte Douglas, but at various airports across the country. The idea is, in fact, good and innovative, after all airports are not exactly relaxing places - the fear of missing the flight, the anxiety about the trip or even the reason for it can make people nervous. In such cases, sitting in a rocking chair really seems like a great idea.

Another positive side of the chairs is the fact that they are easy to install and remove from airports if needed. What's more, it's a relatively inexpensive way to improve a place full of hurried, anxious, and nervous people. Will the trend ever reach Brazilian airports?