New Orleans taxicab drivers are clueless about how airports operate

PortAPocket wallets help fliers get through airports securely

Airports are cashless communities. Road warriors rarely carry a lot of cash through them, and even casual travelers rely on their plastic to get them trough a trip. The continued opposition to requiring taxicabs to accept credit cards by many of the cabbies in New Orleans demonstrates how little these folks know about the customers they're servicing.

(more after the jump)

The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) folks have implemented a requirement that taxicabs picking up fares at the airport have the ability to accept credit/debit cards. Many drivers don't like the idea, to the point where some have filed suit to block the implementation:

Considering the machines cost anywhere from $500 to $1,200, the credit card companies charge between 1 and 3 percent on each transaction, the cabbies must pay for wireless Internet and contracting fees, Fernando said the cabbies lose up to $3 on every fare.

"We're not against it, but they have to give something to us," he said. "We're still trying to rebuild. The economy is bad. We have to wait six hours to get a fare. If we can make money on the credit cards, we'll jump on it. But this is not the right time to give a hard time to the drivers."

There are a number of dynamics at work here, the most important being that airports are cashless societies. With air travellers being screened and searched as much as we are these days, many people just don't carry cash in airports. Both TSA and security personnel at European airports will spot a fat wallet and make you empty it from your pockets. That's one more thing you have to remember to pick up on the other side. Once inside security, you can buy anything from a pack of gum to a three-course meal using plastic. Travelers are switching to smaller wallets and concealed wallets like the PortaPocket to protect their funds. It's just easier to leave home with plastic and pick up cash when you get to your destination.

This is why the "give something to us" attitude of the local cabbies rankles a bit. They are the ones choosing to work the airport; nobody is forcing them to enter MSY. They do it because airport fares are lucrative. The loss of profit for taking credit cards is not the airport's problem, that's between the owner of the taxi and the cabbie. If fares need to be raised, they should be asking the taxicab bureau and the mayoral candidates. I don't see a problem with increasing the airport fares by $1 to cover the cost of credit card processing.

The biggest problem with taxicabs refusing to take credit cards at MSY is that their customers are still very much in "cash-less" mode. The flier exits the plane at the gate, walks down the concourse, maybe stopping to hit the restroom. If they're on Delta (arriving on "D"), there's a Whitney Bank ATM right next to Gate D1. There's also one downstairs by baggage claim. The flier isn't thinking they need to stop for cash, however, because a) they need to pee, b) they want to get their luggage or just get out of the airport, and c) they don't think about it because no other city's taxicabs demand they get cash. So, the flier is now outside the airport and entering the taxicab queue. Since 500 of the 800 cabs servicing the airport are now taking plastic, there's a 62.5% chance there will be no problem. It's the other 37.5% that are dragging the city down.

Taxicabs are not restaurants like Mandina's, where you can decide before you get there whether or not you want to pay cash.  If the taxicab control employees at MSY don't warn the fliers upfront, refusal by 37.5% of the drivers to take credit cards forces everyone to have cash.  That makes MSY look like an airport in a banana republic.

Hopefully this will get quickly resolved in the courts so MSY can move forward and enhance its reputation as a solid terminal airport.