Key West International Airport — Attraction in Key West

The plane dips low over the water and you see it there - Key West International Airport, small and clean against the blue. They've painted it turquoise, like everything else on this damn island. A man shouldn't complain about such things, but there's something honest about a place that doesn't pretend to be what it isn't.

The landing is hard and true. The runway is short - 5,076 feet. The shortest Boeing 737s land on in North America. The pilots earn their money here. No room for error. The plane brakes hard, fighting the distance.

Inside, the terminal is clean and empty one minute, a human stampede the next. That's the thing about small airports - the rhythm is all wrong. A good bar has flow. This place is cardiac arrest followed by coma, over and over. The walls are the color of a tourist's first tropical drink. The floors are the color of no decision at all.

The baggage claim is a testament to man's capacity for waiting. One carousel. Small, like a child's toy. People circle it like buzzards over a dying man. Their bags come or they don't. The ceiling watches with fluorescent judgment.

Up the escalator, the departure gates are packed tight. Humanity pressed against itself in temporary fellowship. The seats are all taken. The Bloody Marys are strong enough to dull the indignity of it all. You can spot the professionals - they order their drinks with lime wedges and wooden skewers of olives that double as weapons against hunger.

This concrete shoebox somehow processes 1.4 million souls a year without collapsing under the weight of its own ambition. The numbers don't mention the collective hours spent watching ceiling-mounted TVs showing weather reports for places everyone is trying to escape.

Delta, American, United - they all come here, shoehorning their metal birds into this concrete nest. The planes look too big for the runway, like men in suits at a beach bar. The jets lumber down the tarmac like they're not quite sure they'll make it - and neither are you.

In the waiting areas, you'll see tourists with sunburns the color of emergency flares alongside locals wearing "SALTY CREW" shirts who know exactly where to stand when the air conditioning gives up the ghost. When it rains, everyone pretends not to notice the drips from the ceiling tiles, treating the indoor puddles with the same careful navigation as the coral reefs offshore.

The turquoise walls try desperately to remind you that this is paradise, not purgatory. The effect works about as well as telling a man with a bullet wound that it could be worse. At least the wound is in a scenic location.

The LEO TAXI stands ready outside. The drivers lean against their cars with the patience of fishermen. They've seen it all and care about none of it. They just want your fare and to know which overpriced hotel to take you to. The smarter ones sell rum in hidden flasks.

Between flights, the corridors empty out like a bar after a raid. Three people sit in a space built for fifty, looking lost and forgotten. Then the next plane lands, and the cycle begins again - a tide of humanity washing in and out with predictable unpredictability.

This is Key West International - EYW to those who speak in code. It was built by optimists and is maintained by realists. The air conditioning works just enough to remind you what comfort might feel like. The bathrooms are clean enough that you won't catch anything that antibiotics can't cure. The staff smile with the resigned pleasantness of people who know they're trapped on an island with the people they're serving.

A man could do worse than pass through here on his way to somewhere else. Or even on his way home. Just bring your own sandwich. And maybe a flask. The good writer always...

Flew in on the 2nd and out on the 6th of September 2017 (more on that later) to visit Key West, Florida. Upon arriving at the KWIA you have to walk from your plane to the terminal to retrieve your bags. Please note: there is no smoking or vaping once you get off the plane. Also, do not discard any FOD (Foreign Object Debris) and or trash on the tarmac! Fortunately, we already had tickets to fly out when the news of the impending Hurricane Irma was on its way. With the mandatory evacuation order we did not know what to expect on departure day (Sept 6th) at the KWIA.

With that said, we expected a packed terminal with angry passengers, panicked people and overall chaos. So, we kept our rental car (just in case) and checked in first to even see if our flight was still scheduled or cancelled. Well, we went into the terminal and all was quite, calm and cool. Business as usual. The Delta line had one lady pumping passengers and luggage through with a big smile on her face. We got our boarding passes and before we returned our rental car I asked the bartender if he was going to be open. He explained that they would not, but will put sandwiches, breakfast yogurts and any water they had out downstairs for the passengers. He said it was not much, but thats all they had.

So, we went to Denny's had a Grand Slam, picked up some booze, returned our car, got a shuttle to the airport and went through security. The TSA crew was kind, professional and cracking funny jokes with all the passengers. We went downstairs and sure enough the bartender guy left out sandwiches, yogurts and anything else they had on a table for free. All the water bottles were gone, but I was able to scrounge a cup and make a couple of mixed drinks with fountain water...straight...no ice. The atmosphere was relaxed and the Airport staff kept the public informed about new flights coming in empty to take bumped or standby passengers out via the loud speaker. It was smooth sailing and I want to take this opportunity to THANK all the folks at KWIA who made our trip out pleasant.

Lastly, this was a tri-feca for us and our travels this year. We were in Cozumel when TS Frank hit. When we went back to San Antonio, Texas we were met with Hurricane Harvey who blasted us for three days and then we fly to Key West only to find ourselves right in the middle of an evacuation because of Hurricane Irma. Some close calls, but nothing compared to the disaster(s)that are going on now. God Bless you Key West and thank you for your...

I absolutely appreciated all of the staff at the airport, for sure. Everyone in the gift shops, TSA, Check in etc... The reason I gave 4 stars is because of the bathroom signage at the gates, downstairs. There's a big restroom sign that shows 🚺 Left(Ladies), 🚹 Right(Men), 🐕Far right(K9/Dogs). However, the smaller signage for each entrance were not as clear as the big sign and didn't display the same order as what was shown on the big sign. As I noticed this, I told my friend and he suggested that people will see the sign fine, but I wasn't so sure. The smaller male bathroom sign was all the way in the back wall of its entrance that just so happened to be on the far left of both the women's and dogs' bathrooms🤦🏾‍♂️, and there was a maternity entrance in the very same hallway as the men's bathroom entrance🤦🏾‍♂️. The smaller women's restroom sign was on the right. The entrance to the women's restroom was the middle entrance, between the male/maternity entrance🤦🏾‍♂️. The K9/Dog entrance was seemingly the only sign aligned with the bigger signage, but also out of sight upon approaching the restrooms🤦🏾‍♂️. To lighten this review with a lil laughter, there were quite a few people who were seemingly confused trying to enter into the restroom that aligns with their gender identity and species 😅🤭. A few women began entering into the men's restroom, accidentally😅. However, alot of women were also close to entering the K9/dogs' restroom. A few men almost entered into the women's restroom, accidentally, due to the fact that the smaller men's signage was so much further back into the entrance of the men's restroom😅. I'm almost sure that in the, roughly, 45 minute window period of my observance to these cases where there were obvious discrepancies regarding the signage. From my understanding, no one was harassed, harmed, nor assaulted. The humor I'd gathered from this is that of human error and human beings handling themselves with grace. Meanwhile, the airport truly needs to fix that before there's a major accident/problem. Also, I 🙅🏽‍♂️DON'T🙅🏽‍♂️ drink Aquafina🤢🤮. This airport needs more Coca Cola/Coke products. 💙FIJI preferably 💗 💙. Inserting Opinion: I mean, 💁🏾‍♂️ FIJI water tastes SO MUCH BETTER and correlates with Islands..ijs🥰🌈 I love the nice lady in the gift shop who was helping me find sweatpants‼️🥰 Her eyes reminded me of Ms...