I’ve been traveling for a few days, and still have a bit left. I started this trip with a journey into Cottonwood, MN for the wedding of one of my best friends (dating back to high school). The next day, I flew to Austin, TX in order to present a collaborative proposal (with Drexel Libraries) for information-literacy development at the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Exposition and Conference. I was originally planning on hopping from Texas to my hometown in Arkansas, but, alas, my parents will be taking a rare vacation on a cruise in Alaska. Instead, I’m returning to my current home in Philadelphia after this conference. Anyway, about the airports…
So far this trip, I’ve visited 3 airports: Philadelphia, PA (PHL); Sioux Falls, SD (FSD); and St. Paul Minneapolis, MN (MSP).
PHL gets mixed reviews (as always). Wifi is available for students with card code from the information desk (inconveniently located _outside_ of the security checkpoint). The lines weren’t terribly long, but the directions to my gate (given by my airline agent) were terrible. In order to reach my gate, I passed through security, followed a long deserted corridors under active construction, exited the secure area by necessity, and re-entered through a different point. That’s right- I had to go through security twice. During my second pass, I was told there was a shuttle to avoid this run-around, but no signage pointed me in the correct direction. The gentleman in line next to me had the same troubles. Problematic..
FSD is small, simple, quaint. Tiny and convenient. But, ‘twas a bit chilly. This airport boasts only 8 gates servicing United, Delta and a few others. (Note that NWA operates entirely through Delta, and US Air operates entirely through United at this airport). There is a single gift shop and restaurant-bar inside the security checkpoint. Similarly, only one restaurant is available outside security. In case you’re bored, there’s free wifi with a simple registration process. Alternatively, you can chat up the locals; as you might expect in a small town, the staff were über friendly. I held a tab open at the restaurant with no credit card, and haggled the price of a sweatshirt down in the gift shop (it was chilly, remember). After leaving my bag unaccompanied (in the otherwise empty facility), the friendly security guard put it behind his desk for me. And, yes, it was literally almost empty. On my travel out of Sioux Falls at 7am, there was zero people in line at the ticket counter or security checkpoint, and only one other passenger already waiting. The lady at the gift shop knew (at 8am) that I was taking the 11am NWA flight to Austin; that tells you how few flights leave this airport. After haggling for the sweatshirt, I curled up to sleep. There are chairs with no arms and table sections that can be semi-comfortably slept across (disclaimer: I can sleep almost anywhere). When I awoke hours later, I was surrounded by people, but no one disturbed me the entire time. Sweet dreams..
On the opposite end of the spectrum, MSP is a large and sophisticated airport catering to an international crowd and operating as a hub for NWA. Navigation is simple. The directions I was given were accurate, and the train to my concourse was immaculate. There were even fairly nice carpets in sections and full-size antique planes as decoration. Classy..
