SW Florida International Airport upgrades terminal amenities ahead of busy season

More mobile device plug-ins and a lactation room for nursing mothers and babies.

Those are some of the upgrades that Southwest Florida International Airport will have ready at its passenger terminal in time for the busy winter travel season.

The inspiration for such improvements came from travelers' feedback and recommendations from Lee County Port Authority staff.

The Port Authority thinks the changes will make travel more pleasant for now. More extensive changes are planned with a passenger terminal expansion and security checkpoint reconfiguration expected to begin in about a year.

“We’re trying to keep up. … We thought these were things we could do to make sure our customers continue to give us good grades,” said Jeff Mulder, executive director of the Port Authority.

It matters that an airport terminal makes a good impression on visitors. It’s the first thing that visitors see when they get off airplanes, and it's the last thing they see when they leave.

Keeping visitors happy is crucial to Southwest Florida’s economy. Tourism and hospitality support an estimated 1-in-5 jobs in Lee and Collier counties.

Plus, some visitors decide to move themselves or their businesses here.

You might notice some of these features the next time you use RSW:

Charge your phone

After leaving security checkpoints for the air gates, look for stanchions topped with the airport logo and holding outlets for recharging mobile devices.

They’re a little more visible than the banks of outlets and USB ports that hang just below seats where you wait for a boarding call. Those also have increased in number.

“We’ve doubled the number of plug-ins in the terminal and gate areas,” Mulder said.

Fill up your water bottle

Who hasn’t had to pitch a bottle of water or soda before entering a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint?

Staying hydrated is important when traveling. However, sometimes we don’t want to buy replacement beverages after clearing security. And refilling bottles at drinking fountains can be messy.

Now, all three airport checkpoints sport wall-mounted hydration stations.

Place your water bottle on a flat platform under the spout. An automatic sensor stops the flow of water when the bottle’s full.

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And:Getting, keeping intrastate flights isn't easy for RSW

Care for your baby

Changing tables have been added to the terminal’s gender-neutral “companion care” restrooms.

A lactation room — where a mother can nurse her baby or pump breast milk in a private, tranquil atmosphere — will open in late January in the airport’s pre-security, public area near the Concourse D entrance.

A concept drawing the airport provided shows an upholstered rocking chair with arms and a separate footrest among the room’s furnishings.

A ”Friendly Airports for Mothers Act” was included in the five-year re-authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration that President Donald Trump signed Oct. 5.

Although many airports already have them, these rooms will become a requirement for medium- and large-hub airports as of Sept. 30, 2022.

The law says a lactation room must be in the area past security checkpoints, which means RSW will have at least one such room post-security, after its terminal expansion.

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A cup of coffee

With the addition of a Starbucks coffee stand on Concourse D this year, all three RSW concourses and the pre-security area of the terminal have a full complement of food and beverages from the popular retailer.

But until the terminal expansion, “we’re still lacking enough restaurants and gift shops past security,” Mulder said.

As a temporary measure, the Port Authority has worked with existing concessionaires to add grab-and-go kiosks, particularly those serving bottled beverages and snacks.

Flyers don’t choose an airport for such little comforts and conveniences. But there’s a “high correlation between satisfaction and the amount people spend at an airport,” said Michael Taylor, travel practice lead at J.D. Power. He provides business improvement recommendations to the company’s clients in the airline, airport, and car rental industries.

People who rate an airport 10 out of a possible 10 in J.D. Power surveys “spend twice as much as people who rate it a six or a seven,” Taylor said. “That’s across all airports we measure,” he said.

In its most recent North America Airport Satisfaction Study, J.D. Power ranked Southwest Florida International third – behind Buffalo Niagara International and Indianapolis International – for medium-size U.S. airports.

Lee's Port Authority encourages travelers to arrive two hours ahead of their scheduled departures from RSW – three hours if traveling internationally.

The airport has a good reputation for on-time travel, even during the busiest of times.

Personal finance site Magnify Money recently looked at the 10-year average percentage of departing flights that arrived at their destination on time and the 10-year average percentage of flights that were canceled.

It placed RSW third among its "best 10 airports for holiday travel," with an average of 77.2 percent of flights arriving at their destinations on time and just 1.7 percent canceled.

Only Hawaiian airports Daniel K. Inouye International in Honolulu (84.2 percent on time, 0.5 percent canceled) and Kahului in Maui (83.7 percent on time, 0.7 percent canceled) had better 10-year averages.