Earlier this month, in one of its luxe Centurion Lounges at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental airport, American Express rolled out a new space focused on helping travelers reset and have a moment of mindfulness before boarding their flights. It’s a bit of an airport dreamscape, complete with plush lounge chairs, calming teas, and neck warmers to melt away any tension from the TSA line; travelers also get free access to the Calm meditation app while in the lounge.
The new premium wellness area is indicative of a larger trend: Travelers are stressed. There’s no doubt that two years into the pandemic, airports feel more anxiety-provoking than ever, and fliers need a space to find a sense of calm. It used to be that only the most elite travelers could get access to relaxing areas through membership with top-tier credit cards or airline elite status. But recently, calming spaces are becoming more accessible to a wider swath of travelers in hubs across the country. Numerous U.S. airports are incorporating areas like meditation spaces and sensory rooms into the design of their facilities—and offering all travelers free access.
“The feedback I’m hearing from travelers is that airports can be very overwhelming, particularly now,” says Chelsea Rodriguez, volunteer and customer accessibility manager at Seattle-Tacoma airport, where a new sensory room opened in April 2021. “I think this is more of a stressful time to be traveling. Having a space like the sensory room—which is calming, which just has a lot of additional touches to put travelers at ease—has been really well received.”
A sensory room is an interactive space designed to help travelers who are neurodivergent and may become especially overwhelmed in a bustling and unfamiliar terminal. They can help travelers with conditions like autism, dementia, or other sensory processing issues. Seattle’s sensory room, which is located post-security below the airport’s Concourse A, includes features like a starlit sky, dimmable lighting, and a range of cozy seating options that move or compress the body. “There are seating nooks, rocking chairs, large seating pillows, and acoustic paneling that encourages touch,” says Rodriguez. “How people use the space is really going to vary depending on how people can recenter and that’s going to vary by individual. It was built in a way recognizing that people have different ways of recentering.”
Similar spaces have been steadily opening in domestic airports. Pittsburgh International airport opened a sensory room in 2019, with soothing bubble tubes and fully soundproof walls, as did Miami International airport. In late 2020, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport debuted a sensory room as part of its “Compassion Corner,” a suite of services for travelers needing extra assistance. The space offers activities like puzzles and coloring books for both adults and children with neurological or developmental disabilities.
“Increasingly, airports have been adding areas to increase travelers’ satisfaction and prioritize a remarkable and positive experience,” says architect Luis Vidal, who designed London Heathrow's Terminal 2 and a new terminal at Pittsburgh airport, currently under construction. “Although this trend was on the rise long before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, it certainly surged once COVID-19 generated enormous change in virtually every aspect of our daily lives.”
For certain travelers, it’s not just the terminal that can prove overwhelming. Boarding the plane itself can also be challenging. To address this, Kansas City International airport is planning a space where the boarding process can be rehearsed. It’s called an airplane simulator, and when it opens with the airport’s new terminal in 2023, it will allow fliers to practice every step of passing through the airport, from TSA screening to takeoff. “We want to be in a place where we can help travelers or families that might be reluctant to buy airplane tickets to feel confident in their ability to go through the process, whether that is a family with a child on the autism spectrum or an older traveler with dementia, or [travelers who are] hearing impaired or visually impaired or have fear of flying or claustrophobia,” says Justin Meyer, Kansas City International airport’s deputy director of aviation, marketing, and air service development.
The simulator room will have a staged boarding gate and door, jetbridge, and a replica of a plane outfitted with airline seats, overhead bins, and crew announcements. In addition to the airplane simulator, the new terminal will also offer a sensory room and a play area that’s accessible for children with physical disabilities.
For fliers who aren’t necessarily neurodivergent but are looking for a quiet place to reflect, pray, or simply escape the hubbub of a crowded terminal, there are also new relaxing options. “Having spaces like meditation and prayer rooms can be really beneficial to travelers,” says Rodriguez of the Seattle airport, where an interfaith prayer and meditation space opened alongside its sensory room last April. “Especially Muslim travelers. We recognize that Muslims pray five times a day, and so having a private space that is calming and built with intention can be very much appreciated.” Seattle-Tacoma’s space includes a Qibla pointer, which indicates the direction to face for Muslim prayers, as well as a kneeling prayer bench, and recessed seating conducive to meditation.
The room was designed with input from local religious leaders. “For myself and other Muslims who have struggled to find locations to pray at airports, having a designated space that facilitates prayer is significant, from a religious accommodation perspective as well as safety, privacy, and modesty,” Aneelah Afzali, executive director of the American Muslim Empowerment Network at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound, said in a statement when the space first opened last spring.
Kansas City International airport also plans to offer a multipurpose room meant to serve anyone looking for a sense of peace when its new terminal opens next March. “We wanted to be sure [the space] was not exclusive to some and only focused on others,” Meyer says. “We didn’t want a prayer room and we didn’t want a chapel, so we’re going forward with what we call a quiet room. Whether you want to go in there and roll out a prayer rug or roll out a yoga mat, both of those are totally fine.”
Travelers can expect to see such areas become a much more common part of the airport experience in coming years. Pittsburgh's new terminal, for instance, is set to have 90,000 square feet of outdoor terrace space, where all travelers can relax among plants in the fresh air. “Airports in particular have a huge impact on well-being,” Vidal says. “Incorporating areas focused on providing a calm, relaxing environment for travelers gives people the opportunity to positively transform what most view as a stressful process into an enjoyable and memorable experience.”