Many have commented about the terrible food options, which is true, however RIC is not an airport where you’d generally have a layover. It’s either a beginning or final destination for most, so not a huge reason to hang around.

Plus, given that it’s small it takes less than 15 minutes to get from the parking deck to your gate, so there’s not a huge reason to arrive hours early.

The baggage issue is plausible. It’s small enough there aren’t usually a ton of Airline staff around. If the flight landed in the evening after 9 pm the chances of seeing any airline employee at baggage claim are basically nonexistent. I’m