A History of Airports

image of Bradley Int'l Airport website, Hartford, CT; from airport website

I just got back from a philosophy conference in South-Western Massachusetts. The number of colleges and universities quickly at hand there is consistently impressive. The conference I went to was in its sixth year running but with this year's locale it saw its largest attendance. The conference has a loyal following so that people flew in from throughout North America, but there were a large number of attendees from the educational institutions of the surrounding area too. To get to the conference I had to drive 2 1/2 hrs south to the Phoenix--the major airport in the area--switch planes in Chicago, then hop into Hartford, Connecticut, and finally catch a ride an hour north. It took the entire day.

It turns out by now that I travel quite a bit. It isn’t always to new places, but it is often, simply in terms of frequency. Growing up in Alaska, and migrating between two different parts of the state, meant I flew frequently as a kid too. I don't actually remember the idea of a plane being any sort of novelty, and have no idea when my first plane trip took place. My family also flew out of Alaska regularly because of various needs we had that were best met by services in another locale—for example, ordering some of the commercial fishing supplies we needed meant it was best to go directly to the company we could order from, most often in the state of Washington. We also had relatives in both Oregon and Washington and would make a point of trying to see them when we could. So, with childhood travel, and moving about regularly as an adult, it turns out I’ve flown into a good number of different airports in several different parts of the world.

My recent trip to Massachusetts made me realize that recently I've been flying regularly but over well-carved routes instead of new ones. I haven’t added a new airport to my experience in several years. Flying into Hartford, however, was a first. So, in recognition of adding experience and knowledge of a new airport to my list of places I've flown through I hereby post the list of airports I’ve flown into, or out of, or both, in my life so far, or, at least those that I can remember. The following is not in order of visitation.

(Feel free to help increase the list by encouraging and/or facilitating trips to places that demand other new airports.)

North America

Canada
1. Vancouver
2. Toronto
3. Montreal

Mexico
4. Los Cabos

The United States
* Alaska
5. Anchorage
6. Fairbanks
7. Kenai
8. Homer
9. King Salmon
10. Dillingham

* Hawaii
11. Honolulu
12. Kona
13. Kahalui

* Washington
14. Seattle
15. Yakima
16. Pasco

* Oregon
17. Portland
18. Pendleton
19. Ashland

* California
20. Eureka
21. Redding
22. Sacramento
23. San Francisco
24. Oakland
25. San Jose
26. Los Angeles
27. Burbank
28. San Diego

* Idaho
29. Boise

* Nevada
30. Reno

* Arizona
31. Phoenix

* Colorado
32. Denver

* New Mexico
33. Albuquerque

* Texas
34. Austin
35. Dallas
36. Houston

* Tennessee
37. Memphis

* Georgia
38. Atlanta

* South Carolina
39. Charlottesville

* Illinois
40. Chicago
41. Chicago Mid-Way

* Indiana
42. Indianapolis

* Minnesota
43. Minneapolis

* Iowa
44. Sioux City

* Michigan
45. Detroit
46. Lansing

* Massachusetts
47. Boston

* Vermont
48. Burlington

* Connecticut
49. Hartford (This is the New Airport. Whoo!)

* New York
50. Laguardia
51. JFK

* New Jersey
52. Newark

Eur-Asia

53. Paris
54. London-Gatwick
55. London-Heathrow
56. Amsterdam
57. Prague

58. St Petersburg
59. Bucharest

60. Tel Aviv