‘Hello Goodbye’ explores the stories behind airport comings and goings

Love is in the air. Actually, love is at the airport.

Hello Goodbye is a feel-good reality show that sends Curt Menefee trolling the terminals of some of the country’s busiest airports, including Dallas/Fort Worth, in search of heartwarming family reunions and poignant marriage proposals.

He doesn’t have to look hard find these stories.

At virtually every gate, he says, “Something interesting is going on.”

The series premieres with back-to-back episodes at 10 and 10:30 p.m. Monday on Travel Channel.

“We’ve all seen these familiar scenes at the airport,” Menefee says. “We usually don’t give them much thought, though, because we’re too busy hurrying to catch a flight or racing to meet someone.”

But in Hello Goodbye, the Fox NFL Sunday host stops to talk to these people and to find out the details of their airport rendezvous and sendoffs.

In addition to DFW (which was Menefee’s first destination once filming began in 2015), interviews were conducted in Chicago O’Hare and Charlotte Douglas International airports.

“We had close to 350 interviews for the show, about 40 of which will be featured in our show,” Menefee says, “and I was amazed at how open most of these people were about sharing their stories.”

Both of the DFW vignettes in the debut episode belong in the romance department.

One involves a couple, Andre and Linda, who say tearful goodbyes because her student visa has expired and she must return to Latvia. They worry that this could be the last time they will see each other.

The other story involves a man who’s waiting for the girl of his dreams to arrive on a flight from Africa. He met her online and fell in love; now they’re supposed to get together in person for the first time.

“The story about the student visa being up and her having to go back seems to touch everyone who sees it,” Menefee says. “At some point, most of us have been in a situation like that.

“Maybe for us it doesn’t include leaving the country, but there’s definitely the question of ‘Will I ever see this person again?’ So I think everyone can relate.”

In other segments, the host chats with a trio of backup singers for Jennifer Hudson (they talk about the camaraderie that bonds them); he encounters a family of kids waiting to meet grandparents from Honduras for the first time; and he plays matchmaker for a couple of longtime platonic college buddies.

Hello Goodbye is adapted from a popular Dutch reality show that also spawned versions in Britain and Canada.

Menefee is, in many ways, an ideal choice for the American version.

For starters, thanks to his day job, he spends quite a lot of time in airports. “I have traveled to all seven continents and more than 80 countries,” he says.

What’s more, he is naturally curious about others. “If I see a group of people at the airport with a big sign and they’re waiting to greet someone, the way my brain works, my first impulse is to say, ‘I wonder what their story is?’ Now I get to find out.”

The specifics are different from story to story, but Menefee found a thread that connects them all.

“I came away from the experience not surprised, but impressed by the power of love,” he says. “That’s what you get when you talk to people at the airport. Whether it’s about romantic love, or the bonds between family, or best friends, it’s the thing that we all have in common, no matter who you are.”

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 12:12 PM with the headline "‘Hello Goodbye’ explores the stories behind airport comings and goings."