Dallas Love Field

Travel Tidbits from an airport near you

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Drama at Dallas Love Field

Operations resumed late Monday afternoon at Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL) after a frightening incident involving shots fired inside the terminal building.

According to Dallas police, a woman entered the airport near the ticket counter, went into a bathroom, and exited wearing a hoodie and brandishing a gun. She began shooting at the ceiling and was taken into custody after being wounded by a Dallas police officer on duty.

No one else was injured, but flights were grounded for several hours. All passengers had to be rescreened, more than 1000 flights were delayed, and more than 100 flights were canceled as a result of the incident.

Portland International Airport roof report

Portland International Airport (PDX) is getting a new timber roof and it’s both quite impressive and quite a complicated undertaking.

Here’s a short video showing one of the important steps it takes to install a 9-acre mass timber roof over an existing terminal.

Here’s what it will look like when the project is done.

Meanwhile, over at PIT Airport

As long as we’re looking at time-lapse construction videos, here’s one from Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), where they’re building a new terminal.

Airport Amenity of the Week: HeART CART at Dallas Love Field Airport

Kids travel, ,

Here’s a great airport amenity created for kids that will make parents happy. Especially on those travel days when kids are antsy and flights may be delayed.

There’s now a mobile HeArt Cart, at Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL) that brings free arts and crafts projects to young travelers.

The cart might show up at a gate where there are a large number of passengers. It may stay near the airport’s music stage, where crowds naturally gather, Guy Bruggeman, of the DAL Art & Programming Team, told Stuck at the Airport.

“We’ve done a Lovey where the kids could color and cut out different body parts and glue them to the doll. It’s like a Mr. Potato Head, but flat,” says Bruggeman. “We also use our button-maker and we have a few other art-based activities, including an upcoming event for “World Music Day” (June 21) where the kids can make their own maraca out of a water bottle.”

We think adults will be thankful that kids will have something fun to do at the airport. And we think kids of all ages will want to make art at the DAL airport’s HeART CART.

So we are declaring this the Airport Amenity of the Week.

Have a nomination for next week’s Airport Amenity of the Week? Drop a note in the comments section and we’ll check it out.

Travel Tidbits from airports near you

Art, , ,

Please tune in Tuesday to part 2 of my ‘appearance’ on the Dallas Love Field podcast, Love Field Stories. We’ll be chatting about the great art collection at the airport and learning the stories behind some of the pieces.

Airport traditions are back: Flowers on Mother’s Day

Since 2009 (except for a pandemic pause) Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) has been handling out carnations to moms traveling through the airport on Mother’s Day. We’re glad to see the tradition continued this year.

Discounts for Military at O’Hare

During May active, retired, and veteran members of the US Military will be eligible for discounts at both O’Hare and Midway Airports.

What I learned about Dallas Love Field Airport

Aviation history, History, , ,

The team that produces “Love Field Stories,” the official podcast of Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL), was kind enough to include me as a guest for two upcoming episodes.

The two-parter delves into the unique history of the airport and highlights some of the wonderful art that can be spotted in and around the terminal.

The episodes will be live-streamed on Tuesday, April 12, and on May 10 at 12:30 p.m. (Central) on Love Field’s Facebook and YouTube and will include images of many of the historical events and artwork we discuss.

The podcast can also be heard on Apple Podcast, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Pandora.

To produce the podcast, DAL teamed me up with Bruce Bleakley, who is an aviation historian and co-author of The Love Evolution: A Centennial Celebration of Love Field Airport and Its Art.

We called it a conversation. But really, it’s me getting to pick the brain of the airport’s historian. I asked Bleakley about how, in 1958, Dallas Love Field’s new terminal building came to have the first moving walkway at any airport in the world. And why there was an ice-skating rink in the terminal. And about the role that Dallas Love Filed played on that day in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas and Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president on the DAL tarmac.

In this two-part podcast, we also learn the stories behind some of the great art that passengers walk over and walk by at DAL.

And I get Bleakley to tell us which city’s name is spelled wrong in the airport’s first commissioned piece of art. A detail he didn’t even share in his book.

I hope you’ll tune in!

Courtesy Frontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas

Travel Tidbits from an airport near you

Free Stuff, , ,

Discounts at Boston Logan Airport in honor of the Boston Marathon – plus free socks

To celebrate the return of athletes to Boston for the Boston Marathon, passengers who use the online ordering platform BOS2GO at Boston Logan Airport (BOS) for express pick-up or delivery direct to their gate will receive 26.2% off their order. The discount amount is linked to the length of the marathon – 26.2 miles – and is good through October 13.

Use the code RUNBOS at checkout on the BOS2GO website or scan the QR code on the dedicated signage. Anyone who chooses delivery instead of pickup will also receive a pair of complimentary BOS2GO branded athletic socks.

Colorful Canopies at ATL in honor the Pride Flag

Animated art tour of Dallas Love Field

Here’s a short video tour of some of the art at Dallas Love Field. It seems to be designed for kids but anyone will enjoy seeing and learning about some of the great artwork at DAL Love Field.