Flashes of Panic

It’s been about a year since I traveled to (or through) Indianapolis airport. (I was here three times in 2007, twice in 2006, and half a dozen times before that.) Since then, they’ve moved from the crammed and cramped terminal they were in (which nonetheless had some high points, not least being the plentiful power outlets) to a shiny new facility they started a few years ago.

It’s like many other airports, of course; a bit of Detroit here, a bit of PDX there. It has a nice central food court, food on both sides of security, still a few power sockets around, etc. etc., and probably the best improvement, free wireless internet. I’m sitting in baggage claim waiting for the rest of my car pool, plugged in, hooked up, and fed.

But baggage claim is nearly empty. It’s a big, airy, light hall, and there’s practically nobody around, especially relative to the perpetually mobbed state of the old place. Which leads me to wonder: did Indianapolis build this terminal because the old terminal was significantly over capacity? How much did they over-build this one? Maybe they’re planning on spending a few decades growing in to it?