The biggest compliment I can give this place is that it is absolutely efficient. With this being a…read moreregional airport, it is a bit small which could lend to the efficiency of the facility.
Let's do a quick overview of the airport. With it being small, checking in is swift. You only seem to have two airlines that fly in and out of here so that makes it easy to find where you need to go. This being a small airport everything is quite laid back. You don't feel hassled or rushed when you go through check in and security.
TSA checkpoint here was really simple. Even though they have TSA Precheck, it is basically void here as there never really seems to be a hold up in lines. Literally I walked up, plopped my stuff on the belt, walked through and was on the terminal side. Really nothing separating the two lines, just kind of walk up, go through.
Terminal side, small, again, I hate to redundant, but everything here feels like you might be in a mock up of an airport, but it is a fully functional airport. There are only six gates, so there is no mistake with figuring out where you have to be. The good thing with this is that it is again efficient with boarding the plane.
Let's go back to the entrance side. All bags come to one claim area. So if your flight happens to land around the same time as another, all bags will be mixed together. That is if your bag arrives with you. See, with it being a regional airport, it equals smaller planes. This has nothing to do with the airport, but the airlines may bump your luggage on you. This actually happened to my colleague. We arrived around 11 in the morning, but her luggage wasn't showing up until 6 that evening. Without any way for it to be delivered, she had to make her way back to the airport to get her luggage. When in town for work, that's not always the best situation.
Honestly, the baggage claim was probably the most fun and easy spot here. Grab your bag and head outside to get transportation to where you need to go. Speaking of transportation, wait a bit when trying to get an Uber. You'll end up missing the surge pricing.
Back to the terminal side. With it being a small airport, there wasn't much in offerings for food/shopping. At the time I was there, there was only one eatery open and if I remember correctly, one shop open for snacks/gifts. Which was odd, there was a kiosk type situation going on for Dunkin' but besides the signs, nothing was offered. What appeared to be other storefronts that could be used, were in fact storage. How do you know? What is stored is up against the frosted glass and you can see it from the seating area. I didn't step foot towards the eatery as it was overcrowded, I did go into the store, much simpler and easier to navigate.
The seating area again. What I liked about this is that it was abundant. Especially since not all gates are in use, so if you feel the need to spread out, you are more than welcome to go to another gate area. I absolutely loved the tables here. Shared space with pop up outlets for regular plugs and USB. Bathrooms were clean and in working condition.
I was lucky the day I was flying out. It was the week that a storm was rolling across the country. I think I was on one of the only flights out of MGM that day. All other flights after a certain point out of here, were cancelled. Lots of people ended up being stuck, diverted, or driving to a nearby airport.