It’s a clear weekday afternoon at SHD – a small airport surrounded by farm fields and mountains. Laurie and Dennis DeMille are sitting outside at a picnic table – awaiting their direct flight to Chicago at this peaceful spot.
“Love it! It’s just smaller, more personal, easy to get in and out of,” she says.
“You don’t have to be here two hours early,” Dennis adds. “You don’t get accosted going through. Our old airport was Atlanta, and before that was San Diego, so we’re used to going in and out of big airports, but we just don’t like it. “
Here they find free parking just steps from the terminal and an easy stroll through security.
Marketing director Heather Ream adds that passengers can relax in a spacious waiting room with free coffee and cushy seats.
“People usually think of airline terminals as sterile and very plain," she explains. "Our terminal, we used really nice colors, the seating is comfortable. We also have tables and chairs. Someone who needs to work can find a space that meets their needs.”
Each day, says the airport’s Executive Director Greg Campbell, 75-80 jets leave or arrive, most owned by private companies.
“Business jets, corporate jets coming to use their own airplanes. This morning we had a little rush hour — people being dropped off, and they’ll come back and pick them up this afternoon.”
Many national firms now have operations in the area. Merck Pharmaceuticals, Hershey, Coors and Pepsico, Pilgrim’s Pride, Perdue and Route 11 Potato Chips.
James Madison University has also grown into a major economic engine.
“They generate a lot of travel with faculty, staff and students," Campbell says, "but also there are a lot of folks who visit the university for various reasons and alumni and parents, so it is a huge generator of traffic.”
At the gate, for example, an agent announces, "Before we start boarding, for all of you flying to Utah today I’d like to take a moment to say, ‘Go Dukes!’"
"They’ve now branded us as JMU’s official airport," Campbell says.
He notes there are more than 300,000 people living less than 45 minutes from SHD, and many more are moving to Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro and surrounding counties.
“People that are now able to remotely work, and one of their first questions is, ‘You know I have to go back to corporate. I still have to travel some. What does the service look like?’
In 2018, United began jet service to its hubs at O’Hare and Dulles, and one year later Campbell was ready to celebrate.
“We were trending 30-40% over the previous year," he recalls. "Then COVID hit. Our numbers, following national trends and pretty much plummeted in the spring of 20.”
Now, he says, business is back – setting records last summer, and the airport has big plans for the months ahead – building two new hangars, switching more than 200 airfield lighting fixtures to LED, and repaving the runway. It is, Campbell says, proof that SHD has finally arrived – offering big city service with a small town feel.
“One of our favorite stories is someone who, years ago, left a car on the curb, running," he says. "We stowed their car for them and had the keys waiting when they got back, because they were in such a hurry. That’s the kind of stuff that’s just not going to happen at a big airport.”
And to underscore the special nature of this place, the airport will open its field to the public on October 17th – inviting kids and adults to run a 5K race on the runway.
