Bigger is Not Always Better
In praise of the mid-sized airport
One of the questions I get asked the most is, “Al, what’s your favorite airport?” People asking this question are expecting me to answer with one of the usual international suspects: Hong Kong! Singapore! Charles De Gaulle!1
Yeah, Hong Kong is a great airport. Did you know Singapore has a movie theater and a waterfall!2 However, in my travels, my favorite airports have always been much smaller in size and local in flavor. That’s right, almost all of my favorite airports are mid-sized airports: Greenville-Spartanburg! Palm Springs! And today’s spotlight: Louisville!
While it’s not my hometown airport, I have been flying in and out of Louisville (SDF) on a relatively consistent basis for both work and personal reasons for over a decade.3 While I would not have singled out Louisville ten years ago, the airport has visibly embraced and improved the key things that make a mid-sized airport hum.
1. A Sense of Identity
As of 2019, SDF is officially the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. While airport names can easily change with the civic winds, Louisville has embraced a hometown figure with global name recognition and broad appeal.
And then they even made a cool logo out of it.
Still, the experience at SDF goes beyond the Muhammad Ali branding to also include what makes Louisville a unique destination: there’s the Churchill Downs Gift Shop, the obligatory KFC and the longstanding call-to-the post bugler tune that’s played before the bags come out on the belt.
And then there’s bourbon. Lots and lots of bourbon.
It’s not surprising that many of the improvements at the airport parallel the explosive growth in bourbon and bourbon tourism over the past decade.4 It seems every lightbox, every column wrap, or any other available surface has been sold to a distillery to promote their whiskey or their tour. The main airside gift shop used to have a few bottles for sale. Now you have tons of options to purchase at a very healthy mark-up.
You may or may not like bourbon, but there’s no doubt you’re in Kentucky when you get to Louisville.
2. A Sense of Reach
Who doesn’t want their local airport to be on a tropical island with a dusty runway, a couple folding chairs and one flight a day? Unfortunately, that’s not practical if you need to be on the road a lot. The beauty of a good mid-sized airport is that you can still generally get to where you need to go with some degree of comfort.
Louisville (and other good) mid-sized airports have a healthy mix of flights to major airline hubs with low-cost flights to sun destinations. No, there is no non-stop to Barcelona out of Louisville, but your monthly sales meeting in New York and annual trip to Disneyworld can both be done just fine.5
3. A Sense of Relief
I would argue the most stressful times in big airports most often occur landside, particularly on arrival. For example, you’ve just landed at O’Hare and made the trek to to ground transportation. Hopefully you didn’t have to wait for a bag. Even if you didn’t, are you going to take a cab to the Loop or are you going to try to find out where the latest Uber pick up spot is? Oh wait, it’s 4 PM, you’ll be on the Kennedy forever. Maybe you’ll take the Blue Line? Do you really want to take the Blue Line? You’re renting a car? Well enjoy the Air Train ride out to the rental car center. Squeeze in!6
When you land in Louisville, you’re basically already where you need to be. Downtown is maybe 20 minutes away. You don’t have to worry about new Uber pick-up locations because there’s only one location. If you’re renting a car, you can WALK to the rental car center and get your vehicle.7 Let’s get to that distillery tour!
Now, not everything in the mid-sized airport world is perfect. You’ll have to connect a decent amount. There aren’t as many options to get home when things go wrong. The parking garage can fill up the week of Spring Break. There might be only one Starbucks. There might not be a Starbucks at all!
Still, as someone who led the big airport lifestyle for a long time, I know where I want to be starting and ending my journeys. Give me mid-sized.
Notes
Ha! It is never CDG — sorry distant French relatives, but you know this
Yes, new travel reporter, we all know that Changi has a movie theater and a waterfall, but please, tell us again
Nerd Alert(!): SDF is one of those airports where the code doesn’t really match the city (looking at you, Knoxville and Scranton) — SDF stands for the original airport name of Standiford Field; the more appropriate “LOU” is used by the private Bowman Field down the road
I remember visiting the Buffalo Trace Distillery for my 30th birthday REDACTED years ago and we walked right in — these days be prepared to wait in line
SDF was an initial focus city for Breeze and is also well-served by Allegiant to FL — we’ll talk about Allegiant, soon
You may be coming to the conclusion that I’ve landed in Chicago a lot
A non-negotiable item for a good mid-sized airport is onsite rental car — this cannot be debated — don’t make me get on a shuttle