Richards said that to the best of his knowledge, Burlington, known as BTV, was one of three airports in the U.S. to have a yoga room. The others were SFO (natch) and DFW. "I even go in there to make my stressful phone calls," Richards said. "You feel calmer just by stepping inside."

One of the nursing / breast pumping facilities for mothers:

A glimpse inside:

"One mother broke down and cried, out of gratitude, when she saw this," Richards said. "She said I couldn't imagine what this meant. And I guess I couldn't, fully, but it is one more thing to reduce stress."

Here is a source of stress I can fully imagine: the maddeningly cheapo / cattle-herder attitude of so many major airports in making it all but impossible to find electric sockets (and capping or disabling the few that are there). And hey I am talking about you, whoever is responsible for making Dulles Airport such a feedlot-like experience. And your evil twins in charge at LAX.

At BTV, there are sockets wherever you look -- normal AC outlets, and USB connectors too. "We know this is another huge source of stress in travel, so we've tried to minimize it too," Richards said. For instance: at the bar, which features local brews (sockets outlined in red):

At the nearby cafe, a double-socket underneath each seat.

Sockets are everywhere.

Also, rocking chairs (sponsored by local companies), in this concourse offering a view of the runways:

Gene Richards in a different part of the airport:

Another sitting area, with aviation-themed decor. "We're trying to create the sense of a lot of separate spaces where people can go," Richards said. "Anything to make the experience seem more relaxed."

The use-for-free business work center, with printers and computers available:

Instead of chain outlets, branches of Burlington's locavore restaurants:

Also, local drink offerings -- including (note the arrow) the elusive Heady Topper on tap.

An open-to-the-public roof observation deck and garden, which Richards was showing to my wife:

I couldn't help comparing this with my normal experience going in and out of Dulles:

Yes, I know, I would probably dislike some other airport as much as I dislike Dulles if I were exposed to it as much. And I know that the contained scale of Vermont in general, and of this airport in particular, makes things feasible that you just couldn't do on a mass-volume basis.

Still, it is remarkable the top-to-bottom difference it can make, if managers seem to have asked themselves what the experience is like from the traveler's point of view. I hope some of our big-airport managers make time for a trip up north.