Like many a weary traveler, Norman Panish has had enough of delayed flights and airport lobbies packed with stranded passengers. Panish once arrived at London's Heathrow, he recalls, and saw "bodies strewn on the floor, literally thousands of people jammed in." When he was fogged in at New York's Kennedy on another occasion, "there was just no place to put us. It was a near riot."
Now Panish, 48, a former pharmacist, has come up with a new form of traveler's aid. This week, in a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport, he opens Skytel, a minimotel where passengers can freshen...