Memphis Airport
Lasting Impressions....
"It has been the best sleeping airport I've been at so far." (K, I, O)
Quick Reference Airport Guide
Here is some information that we've picked out of from your reviews. Be sure to read the review pages for the most up-to-date info:
- cushioned leather seats without armrests
- clean washroom
- dirty
A few airport reviews from the archives
by jakewhitlatch
I live in northeast Arkansas and have flown out of the Memphis airport numerous times. All without incident. In fact, every flight I have ever made originated in Memphis, and I have never had even a whim of suspicion. Twice I have travelled with large groups of people and not once has anyone had any hang-ups with security or anything else unwarranted. I was once "patted-down" after beeping at the metal detector three times simply because I forgot to take a quarter out of my pocket, but security was nice and asked if I would like a witness during my "check" I said that I would and the large, female, african-american security officer patted me down and then laughed and said "Sorry, we have to do this to everyone that beeps three times, nothing personal." Since this airport IS in the South there is a slight degree of discrimination, I believe. I have never witnessed anyone but middle eastern people (primarily sweet old women in burqas) being taken behind the curtains for searches of who knows what kind, so if you are Islamic I'm not sure how much you will like the security. I have never had any problems though. As far as noise, yes it is quite a busy airport, but nothing too ridiculous, when you get to your terminal everything it quite calm and though you can usually see and somewhat here the main corridor, it is not difficult to doze off if need be. The cleaning crew is not that annoying. As for the concerns with personal belongings being stolen: I have NEVER once feared that my things will be taken in the Memphis airport. Like I said earlier, this is a "ghetto" city, but most of the ghetto does not fly out of this airport, I promise. Overall, flying out of Memphis over the years has been an uneventful experience, marked with on time flights and few problems.
by kaisatsu
After delays caused me to miss the last connecting flight of the night, the airline wasn't going to pay for a hotel, so I decided to try to sleep at the airport. Big mistake! I think this is one of the noisiest airports I could imagine! Loud floor-polishers kept me up for the first few hours, and then the FedEx planes all started taking off in the wee morning hours. I didn't get more than an hour of sleep total!
The first problem was that when our flight arrived, they sent us back out to the ticket counters to make rebooking arrangements. They told me I'd need to check in again the next morning, so with no boarding pass, I had no way to get back through security, leaving me to sleep in the front lobby. Thankfully, there were some connecting chairs with no armrest, so I could lounge a little, and coming from a wedding, I had a bridesmaid's dress to use as a blanket (who says you can't re-use a bridesmaid's dress?!). It seemed like it would be a decent and restful nap.
Not at all! The cleaning crew took off polishing the floor around 1:30 am. Memphis is a FedEx hub, and to avoid the commercial flights, their jets start taking off around 3:30! In this part of the airport, the noise of the jets taking off overhead was extremely loud, and they continued non-stop until it was time to check-in for my 6:00 flight.
On a positive note, the bathroom was nice and tidy (at least at 5 in the morning)!
