Synopsis

The Backstreet Boys turn Los Angeles International Airport into a glamorous departure lounge, performing "I Want It That Way" as they wait to board a plane. The video alternates between solo close-ups, coordinated group choreography, and shots of the band positioned around the airport terminal. As the song builds toward its final chorus, they approach a waiting Boeing 727, where a crowd of excited fans greets them with flowers and handmade signs before their apparent departure.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed at Los Angeles International Airport on April 1 and 2, 1999. The Tom Bradley International Terminal provides the main setting, while the airplane and fan scenes were filmed inside an airport hangar.

• Several terminal shots use green-screen compositing. This creates the distinctive effect of the group fading, shifting positions, and appearing to move through the airport without conventional scene changes.

• The aircraft shown during the final sequence is a Boeing 727. A Delta Air Lines L-1011 also appears briefly during Howie Dorough's verse.

• The video premiered on MTV's Total Request Live on May 5, 1999, during the peak of the Backstreet Boys' Millennium era.

• In November 2021, the clip became the Backstreet Boys' first music video to pass one billion views on YouTube.

• The airport setting helped establish the song as a polished, international pop spectacle rather than a conventional romantic narrative, matching the group's travel-heavy image during the Millennium campaign.