Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport — Local services in Milwaukee

I would not recommend Milwaukee International Airport for anyone coming from any foreign country. We had just completed a long flight from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and had about a two and a half hour period before our connecting flight would take us to our destination. They had another international flight that had come in just before our flight arrived. This caused a backup in customs, with only 2 customs officers checking in everyone. There were about 400 to 500 people in line with a third flight arriving while we were in line. Delta had booked our connection to be about 2 hours from our international flights arrival. Because of the customs delay and having to pick up or bags and recheck them, going through security again and after running (my wife using her mobility scooter) through a very long airport, we missed our connecting flight by just 2 minutes. They would not reopen the door, and the plane did not leave the gate until 10 minutes later. The gate attendant told us that customs is always like that, and the airport does nothing to fix it. Delta knows about it but continues to overbook international with similar arrival times. Only 2 minutes prevented our connecting flight. Sounds like something needs to be fixed at Milwaukee International Airport. Delta provided hotel accommodations, but we wouldn't get home until the next day. One of the fliers at the hotel's front desk was referencing calling if we saw any kind of crime talking place in the area. The hotel clerk recommended a restaurant about 150 yards away on the opposite side of the street. Keep in mind it is 10p and dark outside. There were homeless people on the streets as we made our way there. Two security guards met us at the door of the restaurant and had to wand us for weapons. It's not the safest place, and yet this is what Delta provided as a hotel to stay when paying for a guests room overnight. Delta still could not confirm comfort+ seats and no assigned seats, only that we would be on the plane the next day. I left out that the Delta gate attended said that the airport and Delta knows about the international security desk delays, even though they could have up to 14 people working the gates and they do nothing to correct it. It is so frustrating and an extra wasted day for us, and Delta, nor the airport, does anything to compensate for the delays and day of...

I admit I don't fly much. I mean unless you own a P51, who likes to fly? I've been to a dozen airports in my entire life. Of the airports I've been to, I have to put Mitchell Field at the top of the list.

Not the biggest airport out there; but it does buzz with a certain energy that is missing from other places. All the concourses radiate from the same common area. So it is very easy to get to your boarding gate. The folks who work there (more on this later) are polite and helpful. The TSA people are efficient yet pleasant enough. It's even possible to get a smile out of them.

The main terminal is entertaining, with a small but interesting museum, which, of course, features General Mitchell himself. There are various gift shops that are glad to take your money. Not to forget the shoe shine shop. Amenities include a meditation room, a room to deal with service animals, and a discrete area for breast feeding. There are the ubiquitous Starbucks, a couple of restaurants and a bar. The best restaurants are past security. The hourly parking facility is close to a moving sidewalk that takes you to the main terminal. Bathrooms are well kept and reasonably clean. In a nutshell, Mitchell Field is easy to get to, easy to navigate, and easy to get out of. And there's no getting on a tram to get to your gate.

Now the bad stuff....They are short staffed, the Starbucks and the two restaurants were closed, as were most of the stores. No one was at the information desk. If they're not open on a Saturday afternoon, when are they open? The moving sidewalk wasn't moving. There were no human attendants at the parking building that I saw. If you didn't have a credit card you're were not getting out. Aside from these minor irritations, this is a great place to catch a flight. More direct flights to more destinations are added all the time.

I know folks in Chicago who drive up to Milwaukee to fly and avoid the monstrosity...

They have posters saying "Best airport in America", but I'm not impressed. You can't get between concourses C and D without exiting security and then going through again. Seems quiet enough that it isn't too problematic these days, but it makes changing airlines here really challenging. It happened to me pre-pandemic, and it was very stressful. Our family was traveling on multiple airlines this trip and we couldn't eat together post security as we planned because we were in different concourses.

If you need to avoid escalators (and a number of those were blocked off and broken), it is very difficult to navigate. After returning a rental car on the ground level the signage directs you to take the elevator to the upper level, you then have to cross the entire terminal to the other corner and then take an elevator back down to ticketing for check-in (which is off in the corner and not completely obvious). When in reality you could have just stayed on the ground level and crossed the street to get directly to ticketing. Not such an issue if you can use the escalators as they expect, but a lot of people have luggage, strollers, or a wheelchair and it is not at all friendly for that.

On the positive side, it didn't seem that busy (4pm Saturday after Thanksgiving) so security was quick and there were not long lines for food, etc. It does seem relatively well maintained and clean, with nice art installations here and there, friendly Adirondack chairs, and children's climbing area. It seems to attempt a more homey, relaxing atmosphere in the concourses by carpeting the main walkway and making you weave around bars and stairways to the (unused) lower gate levels, but personally that just makes it less obvious where I am supposed to be going when heading to...