In Times of High Anxiety, Airport Stress-Busters Offer Sweet Relief

Even with tightened security checks, reinforced cockpit doors and sky marshals in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, airline passengers remain nervous. Consider the two men I overheard at a gate in Chicago’s Midway Airport two weeks after the attacks. As they scanned the faces of fellow passengers waiting to board a flight to LAX, one anxiously asked the other, “Does anyone look suspicious?” His traveling companion didn’t answer.

To ease anxiety--or simply cope with lengthier waits before takeoff--passengers can take advantage of a host of stress-reduction and relaxation services offered at many airports. Originally, these services, from massage to children’s play areas to full-service spas, were meant to make layovers and delays fly by. But these days, they can also help calm nerves.

Rocking chairs are the newest chill-out amenity, used not just by seniors and parents with babes in arms but by passengers of all ages. When Logan International Airport in Boston (https://www.massport.com) placed 35 green and white rocking chairs in terminal gate areas and common areas in June, they were an immediate hit, says Phil Orlandella, an airport spokesman--so much so that the airport added 15 more.

Among other airports with rocking chairs are Philadelphia International (https://www.phl.org) and Charlotte/Douglas International (https://www.charlotteairport.com) in Charlotte, N.C.

Massage therapy--usually chair massage, done to the shoulders and necks of clothed clients--has been popular for years at large metropolitan airports. Denver International Airport (https://www.flydenver.com), for instance, now houses two massage shops. This summer, Baltimore/Washington International Airport (https://www.bwiairport.com) launched its first sit-down massage therapy service, with rates typical of such facilities: $15 for 10 minutes or so.

Even the tiny Cheyenne, Wyo., airport (https://www.cheyenneairport.com), which handles 40,000 passengers a year, recently added massage therapy, says spokesman Marty Lenss. Leatha Byers, a massage therapist, sets up her equipment in the middle of the terminal, near the security checkpoint, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday.

At some airports there’s not only a massage storefront or kiosk but a full-service spa. Calgary International Airport (https://www.calgaryairport.com) in Alberta, Canada, offers both the Massage Garage and the Ora2Oxygen Spa. Opened last year, the spa provides full body massage (about $41 for one hour) plus foot massage, facials, an oxygen lounge ($11.50 for 15 minutes of oxygen delivered by nasal tubing) and aromatherapy. There are plans to launch similar spas in the Amsterdam and Detroit airports, says a company spokeswoman.

If you’re delayed at Changi Airport in Singapore (https://www.changi.airport.com.sg), you may have hit the stress-busting jackpot. Options include a fitness center, sauna, Jacuzzi, a nap at one of the transit hotels, massage, aromatherapy or viewing the gardens--bamboo, cactus, heliconia or indoor orchid--or the koi pond.

Play areas for children also are becoming more common. At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (https://www.ohare.com), Terminal 2 houses an interactive play space called Kids on the Fly, says spokesman Dan Curtin. At Denver International, the play area is in Concourse B.

Workout centers in or near the airport are common. The O’Hare Hilton offers a $10 day pass to its athletic club for travelers, who need not be hotel guests. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas (https://www.mccarran.com) houses a 24 Hour Fitness facility inside the terminal, on Level 2, above baggage claim. Members of other 24 Hour Fitness clubs can enter for free or at a reduced rate (depending on their individual membership level) by showing their membership cards; for nonmembers, a day pass is $15. A package including a day pass and workout clothes is $30, and you keep everything (T-shirt, shorts, socks) but the shoes.

Volunteer corps are yet another trend. Sometimes sporting white hats, a button or both, the volunteers roam through airport concourses, greeting passengers and offering help to stressed, distressed or confused passengers. At Calgary International, one of the 189 White Hatter volunteers just might invite you into the Visitor Reception Center, where you can kick back and relax.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (https://www.dfwairport.com) has more than 400 volunteers, called airport ambassadors, who roam every terminal, collectively speak about 30 languages and help passengers solve problems. They wear straw hats and green vests, says Tina Sharp, an airport spokeswoman.

About 95 volunteers work in the Denver International program, wearing white cowboy hats. Logan recently launched its volunteer program with 15 participants.

Massage and other relaxation services are more likely to be found at hub airports, where passengers have a connection to make, rather than at origin-and-destination airports such as Los Angeles International (https://www.lawa.org). Alas, LAX has no exercise facilities within the airport and no massage therapists on duty.

To find services at specific airports, along with details about operating hours and prices, contact airport information or check the airport’s Internet site before traveling.

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Healthy Traveler appears twice a month.