Air travel is nearly back to normal. How can I tell? Two weeks ago I had to park on the roof of the parking garage. This week the garage was full, and I had to park at the far end of the outdoor lot. At least it wasn’t raining!

Meeting an incoming passenger at Dulles International Airport can be a confusing thing. For the most part I recommend the greeting people meet their arriving friends and relatives at the baggage carousel.

An alternative situation is the arriving passenger being met by someone in a car. “Where should I meet the driver?” they ask. I tell them there are seven exit doors from the baggage area to the arrivals level of traffic. They need to go out one of the seven doors and note the door number. Then call the person picking them up and tell them at which door on the arrivals level they are waiting.

Photo 113020990 © James Kirkikis | Dreamstime.com

I recently had a woman from Montreal being picked up who needed to call her friend to arrange the meeting place. However, her English was quite broken. I found that out when she handed me a piece of paper with some phone numbers and wanted me to call the friend. The friend did not answer the phone, so I left a message. The friend called my phone back after five minutes (the benefits of caller ID) and I told him where to meet the woman. Then I explained to the woman where she would be picked up — in French.

We get many foreign travelers at Dulles Airport. I helped a woman traveling to Chisinau, capital of Moldova. She said she spoke Romanian and Russian. Slowly, in English, I gave her directions, and asked if she understood. She said yes — but I wondered as she walked away. I had offered to call our translation service. I have used it successfully many times. I’m sure at least she understood the basic directions I gave her, including appropriate hand gestures.

Then there are people who speak perfect English but just haven’t done much travel. I had a lady traveling to Denver on Southwest Airlines. She asked where gate C-1 was. I was a bit confused because gate C-1 is a United gate. Southwest uses gates in the B concourse. I soon realized she was looking at a boarding pass from her incoming flight. I directed her to Southwest’s gate in the B concourse.

Finding a place to eat is perhaps the most common question I get when I work at the airport. And the location of a Starbucks is the most specific question about food that I get. There are Starbucks at Dulles, but they are on the baggage level in the main terminal, and in the A, C and D concourses. Unfortunately, there are none in the B concourse

Two ladies recently asked where the Chick-fil-A was. The nearest was in the D concourse. They were departing from the C concourse, and Chick-fil-A was a good hike away. While they had plenty of time, that long walk was a bit beyond what they wanted to do. Just then one of the roving golf carts pulled up. They asked the driver if he would take them there and he was more than happy to oblige. And, about 40 minutes later, he went back to pick them up!

Another unusual assist I provided recently was for a woman calling from Dublin, Ireland. Her mother arrived at Dulles and was supposed to change for a flight to Denver, Colorado. The woman had spoken to her mother when she arrived at Dulles, but had no contact since and the mother needed wheelchair assistance. I tried to call several of the United numbers but got no answer. So I called the United lounge near the gate for the connecting flight to Denver. The United employee at the lounge was most helpful. He was able to confirm the woman’s mother had indeed boarded the flight to Denver. I called back the woman in Dublin to close the loop, and she was most happy to receive that news. And I was happy to deliver it!

— Marvin Singer, a volunteer with Travelers Aid and a member of GT’s Globility Board