All that talk of doughnut county captures and airport-only visits in Counting Down a few days ago led me to consider that I’d been to a lot of airports during my wanderings over the years. One would think that I would have counted all of those before, seeing how I make lists of just about everything else I’ve encountered during my lifetime. Yet I’d never considered it. Even so it was easy enough to resolve that by throwing all the airports I’ve transited onto a map:
I took it a step further by compiled everything on a shared Google Sheet that readers should feel free to view, sort, examine or whatever. Currently I’ve sorted it by nation with the USA first for obvious reasons, and then by three-character airport code.
The Results
I learned that I’d been to 83 airports. That wasn’t bad considering I’d never thought about it before and hadn’t consciously been trying to pad the score. None of them were doughnuts either except for Frankfurt, Germany. I wasn’t particularly concerned about Frankfurt because I’ve been to Germany on plenty of other trips. [Update: that situation has since been rectified].
However, I can’t guarantee that my list is 100% accurate either. I kept recalling airports randomly throughout the day. Regardless, at least I now have a place to write them all down if I ever want to track my use of airports on an ongoing basis.
Within the United States I’ve traveled to and physically left the premises of airports in 36 states and Puerto Rico. Three of those served the Washington, DC area, my home base. Technically I suppose I couldn’t count DC because even National Airport was (barely) outside of the District proper. I doubt I’ll catch the remaining 14 states either. I can’t imagine going through a substantial monetary expense because I’m cheap, especially for states within easy driving distance. Where would I fly to in West Virginia, for example. And why would I want do that? I’d spend twice as much time in the airport as I would driving there.
Large Airports
I also discovered that I’ve been to every one of the top 31 airports in the United States by total passenger boardings and total passenger traffic. The largest airport I hadn’t yet visited was William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas and of course I’d been to the much larger airport in Houston, George Bush Intercontinental.
Small Airports
Most of the airports I’d transited were quite large. The smallest one was probably the airport on the island of Pico in the Azores (map). Single-engine turboprops holding only a handful of passengers landed on its tiny runway, serving a terminal atop the lava fields not much larger than a hut. Within the United States, I’d venture that the smallest I’d used was probably the airport serving Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It wasn’t all that much larger than Pico although the facilities seemed much nicer, serving affluent skiers heading to the Grand Tetons on holiday.
Previously Airports
I’d also traveled to at least one airport that no longer existed. Stapleton Airport served Denver, Colorado from 1920 until 1995 (map). I used Stapleton in the early 1990’s. Denver International Airport replaced Stapleton and the former site became a planned community. Recently the Denver Post announced that Stapleton’s former control tower was being converted into a restaurant with room for 600 patrons. It still counted on my list. Stapleton was an airport when I used it.
Maybe someday I’ll break the 100 mark. If so I’d likely need to travel to international locations. That was my weak link. I’ve been to airports in only 12 nations. That left a lot of room for growth.
Things Change
During this exercise I also learned a lesson in not counting chickens before they hatch (here’s an explanation for the non-native English speaking members of the audience). I was in San Diego, California all last week. So I started compiling this spreadsheet as I sat at the airport terminal in San Diego, using my phone and opening a WiFi hotspot. Then I noticed that I was just about to capture a new airport because my layover would take me through Love Field in Dallas, Texas, so I put it on the list.
The flight prepared to board, we all stood in line, the crew opened the jetway door and… all flights to Dallas were halted due to thunderstorms. The next thing I knew I’d been re-routed to a direct flight from San Diego to Baltimore, leaving four hours later. That was better than some of the alternatives though. If I’d wanted to travel to my original destination I wouldn’t have landed until 1:00 am. My wife was less than thrilled to drive all the way to Baltimore to pick me up although it was the best possible solution in a string of bad possibilities. And then I had to remove Love Field from my list.
But I Hate Layovers
That might be the biggest reason why I’ll never capture an airport in every state. My recent experience reminded me of what I considered the nightmare scenario: perfect weather on either end (San Diego and Washington, DC) and lousy weather at the layover (Dallas) that messes everything up. I hate layovers and generally try to avoid them at all costs. I would have done the same this time except that my employer required me to use a certain airline between those two points, limiting my options. Yet, layovers would be the only way to capture many of the remaining state airports not yet visited. Direct flights between Washington, DC and Billings, Montana? Not likely in this lifetime.
I am sure there are members of the Twelve Mile Circle audience who have touched down in more airports than I. What’s the highest number?
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