Appleton International Airport

Airport Amenity of the Week: Free Coat Check

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We take a break today from sharing the latest details on the Southwest Airlines debacle to celebrate the Airport Amenity of the Week.

Free coat check at Wisconsin’s Appleton International Airport (ATW) isn’t brand new. But we just learned about it. And want to celebrate it as a great amenity that we hope other airports might adopt.

Knowing that traveling in the Midwest can be tough in the winter, Appleton International Airport offers free coat check service to all travelers.

Passengers can drop off jackets at the ATWExpress Park desk in the terminal before heading to their gates and pick them up at that desk on their return. Coats are kept safe in a storage room.

The free coat check service is separate from the ATWExpress Park service, which is a valet service that costs just $8 a day.

Coat Check Service at Milwaukee Mitchell Airport Too

Winter coat check service is offered at another Wisconsin airport too. For the fourth year, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) is offering a coat check service at the Summerfest Marketplace shop. Coats are placed in protective plastic before being stored away.

The service is not free. But it is a great deal at just $2 per day and a maximum of $10 per trip.

Here’s to many more great airport amenities that we can celebrate on Stuck at The Airport.com in 2023.

If you have a nomination for Airport Amenity of the Week, be sure to let us know.

Appleton, WI Airport growing its own food

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You may be familiar with the hydroponic garden at O’Hare International Airport.

Planted in 2011, ORD’s blissful garden is tucked into the mezzanine level of the Terminal 3 Rotunda Building, over the Concourse G corridor. The ORD Yoga Room is nearby. ‘

The garden uses no soil or fertilizer. And it looks nothing like your home garden.

Here, the plant roots are suspended in 26 towers that house over 1,100 planting spots. A solution of nutrients is cycled through the towers to feed the plants.

Getting hungry? You’re in luck. Super fresh vegetables and herbs picked from the ORD garden are used in dishes served at a variety of airport restaurants.

Now Appleton International Airport (ATW) in Wisconsin is joining the grow-your-own movement.

ATW now has its own Flex Farm hydroponic farming system to grow fresh greens for sandwiches and burgers served in the airport’s restaurant, the Fox Cities Eatery.

ATW expects to grow up to 300 pounds of fresh produce each year on its indoor farm.

Like the system at ORD, the hydroponic unit at Appleton International Airport uses only water, air, nutrients, and LED lighting to grow plants. No soil, pesticides or herbicides are used.

ATW’s farming project is a collaboration with Green Bay-based Fork Farms, an indoor agriculture technology company that partners with communities to make the process of producing healthy food accessible to the world.

We think this is a great airport amenity and hope other airports give this a try as well.