Back when I covered the regional airline industry in the 1990s, I did a column I called "Benet's Bookmarks."  It was basically a review of aviation-related web sites right at the time where the industry was just starting to create them.

I would rate the sites based on content and design.  In the early days (and even now) it seemed like web designers wanted to put all these bells and whistles to wow visitors.  The only problem with that was visitors could easily become overwhelmed with the amount of features and information available.

I decided to bring back Benet's Bookmarks to wax poetic about the redesigned web site for the American Association of Airport Executives, which I covered in today's issue (subscribers only) of Airports.  I am a BIG fan of what I call "clean" design on the home page -- neutral colors, a clear sense of what the web site is and easy and accessible navigation tabs.

AAAE has hit a home run with this design.  I can look at this front page and know exactly where I need to go in 10 seconds or less.  And believe me -- surfers will go elsewhere in a New York minute if they can't find what they need quickly.  I applaud AAAE -- and its web designer -- on this redesign.