I saw the famous Killeen Regional Airport for the first time Thursday.
I can’t say I was overly impressed, but there were a couple of interesting qualities about the airport worth noting.
For one thing, it was the quietest airport I had ever been to. I have a feeling it probably would have been even quieter had there not been a media event for Bob Gray Day — a memorial for the famous Killeenite who flew in the famous Doolittle Raids — happening at the same time, which just so happened to be the purpose of my visit.
I would say that having an airport that is not super busy is somewhat of an advantage. Airports are probably the worst place to be. I can’t think of anyone who actually wants to be at an airport. It’s just a means to an end, not an end itself.
And here’s a little secret I would never tell anyone, so please keep it a secret: I’m terrified of air travel.
There is something very scary about being so high up in the air with no feasible understanding of how you can be supported.
Even though I’ve been on planes a number of times, the fear still hasn’t abated.
Just this Easter, I was traveling to Pennsylvania to visit my dad and my sister, and every time there was turbulence, I could visualize oxygen masks coming down and the plane spiraling out of control into the ground, where I would meet my end.
This is an irrational fear, of course. Plane travel is actually safer than driving a car, but fear is a weird thing.
When I got off the plane and got into an Uber, my driver was almost sideswiped by a gigantic 18-wheeler. Even though I just had a brush with death in a regular old car, I shrugged and didn’t think twice about it.
So I think having an airport where you don’t have to deal with multitudes of people is good for my anxiety.
In Wilkes Barre, Pennyslvania, the airport there is likewise small but there is a big, fundamental difference between that airport and Killeen’s airport: It offers flights to more than one destination.
In fact, on my way back to Killeen, I got stranded in Chicago, but that’s a whole other story. (I had deep dish pizza for the first time. I liked it, but New York pizza is still the best.)
But still, the Killeen Regional Airport is very easy to make fun of due to the city’s questionable marketing practices. Notably, the Herald ran a story showing a social media image the airport was promoting that appeared to show arrows to destinations as far away as California jutting out of the Killeen Regional Airport.
Come to find out that this was just a round-about way of saying that KRA connects flyers through Dallas, which remains the only airport it flies to.
I got into some hot water when I called the airport to ask about this. They put me on hold and then hung up on me.
Later, I received an email from Janell Ford, spokeswoman for the city of Killeen, telling me off for contacting KRA to begin with.
A week or so later, Ford contacted me again about calling the aiport, but it turned out it was someone on the business side of the Herald who made the call. She apologized.
Still, I’m a bit sour about the airport because after I left the Gray event, I tried to leave the airport and got stuck for a while behind a broken ticket gate.
When another gate opened, I was immediately cut off by several cars.
I think if KRA could somehow figure out a way to attract other airlines that could fly to different airports in Texas or the rest of the country, I may visit again. But until then, and since it’s not likely to happen soon, I’ll continue making the long haul down to Austin.
