Stuck in Orlando for Six Hours, Columbus, Ohio Musician Keith Hanlon Made an Album for Airport Workers

Columbus, Ohio musician Keith Hanlon turned a flight delay into a full album. When his airline swapped his direct Columbus-to-New York flight for one with a six-hour layover in Orlando, he found a quiet corner of the terminal and started Music for Airport Workers.

The ambient record came out Sept. 25, 2026, on Argentine label Cyclical Dreams. It is Hanlon's first release for the label.

The man behind the board

Hanlon has been recording electronic, ambient, and post-rock music for more than 20 years. He was a longtime member of the Black Swans. Today he is a producer, recording engineer and co-owner of Secret Studio in Columbus.

The layover that started it

The trip happened last November. Hanlon had been tinkering with generative ambient music that he hadn't quite figured out, and the layover gave him time to dig back in.

He told Matter News the corner he found had one restaurant, no departing flights, and almost nobody around. He started making music about how air travel felt to him, pulling from his own travel memories. Then he began to wonder about the people who work in airports every day: what they want, and what they do when they clock out.

Inside the music

The title is a deliberate nod to Brian Eno's 1979 landmark Ambient 1: Music for Airports, the record often credited with defining ambient music. Hanlon's version swaps the travelers for the workers.

The eight tracks lean on travel scenes:

"TSA Dreamer" imagines the inner life of a security agent who watches people leave all day without going anywhere.
"On the Air" recalls a Fourth of July flight out of Chicago, watching fireworks below. Low-frequency sounds stand in for the explosions.
"Slightly Unsettled" carries the low-grade tension anyone who has sprinted for a gate will recognize.

Another piece reaches for the disorienting perpetual twilight of a summer trip to Iceland.

How he built it

The album started almost by accident. Hanlon used generative software that triggers random MIDI notes, then treated the results like clay: stretching notes, changing keys, and adjusting how often sounds fire before layering more parts on top. Guitar appears on the closing track. Hanlon played and recorded every instrument himself.

The process wasn't always smooth. His first piece came from 45 minutes of generative music he initially disliked. He set it aside, came back later, and salvaged part of it for something new. He says a track is done when it feels like it has created a world of its own.

Why it hits

Most people treat airports as places to escape as fast as possible. Hanlon asks you to slow down and notice the people who never leave. For his question about the TSA agent, he put it simply: "Who are they at their core?"

Where to listen and follow

Stream or buy Music for Airport Workers on Cyclical Dreams' Bandcamp (digital and CD) and explore his catalog at keithhanlon.bandcamp.com.

Sources

Matter News — "Keith Hanlon takes advantage of an unexpected layover to create 'Music for Airport Workers'"
Cyclical Dreams — "Music for Airport Workers [CYD 0167]"
Side-Line — "Keith Hanlon releases 'Music for Airport Workers' on Cyclical Dreams"
Bandcamp — Keith Hanlon artist bio