A second-grade class and a fourth-grade class from Windsor Locks, Connecticut, chose the winning names for two new snowplows at Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport.
The winning names: Snowbelle and Blizzard Wizard.
The story of how Salt Lake City International Airport saved its World Map
This is a great story of the heroic effort to save an iconic world map at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) first installed in the 1960s.
When the new terminal was being built, the map was removed and word was that it was too complicated to save it and that the map wasn’t coming back.
But it did!
🍿🎬Pop some popcorn. Break out the tissues. And watch this video about how we saved our beloved World Map.
What was believed to be impossible is now a reality at #TheNewSLC. On your next trip through SLC, visit the World Map in Concourse B Plaza. Take a picture standing on your… pic.twitter.com/kDidqAewif
A lot is happening at airports around the country this week. Here’s a round-up of some of what we’ve spotted so far.
First – see if you can catch this deal:
Low-cost Icelandic airline PLAY is offering flights from the U.S. to Iceland for $99 and to London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Paris for $109 from October 24 through 31. Book it here.
This deal is valid for flights booked from November 2024 through January 2025.
Trick-or-Treat at the airport? That could be fun.
In some cities, they do safe trick-or-treating events at the mall. But in Canton, Ohio, kids will head to the Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) on Halloween.
Enjoy FREE admission to a safe trick-or-treating alternative at Akron-Canton Airport! Our Not-So-Scary Trick or Treat event will be held on October 31st from 6-8pm inside the terminal (pre-security).
The Stuck at the Airport shopping team loves creative airport vending machines. Here’s a new one at OAK airport that dispenses greeting cards.
Next time you're traveling to see loved ones and forget to grab a greeting card, OAK's got your back! Check out our new @minted machine in the T1-T2 connector and support an independent artist with your purchase. Other items are available as well! #iflyoak#FlyTheEastBayWaypic.twitter.com/YLiMdhB8Wq
— San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport (@IFlyOAKland) October 23, 2024
SLC Airport still celebrating Phase 3 opening
We can’t wait to visit Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) to see the new art at amenities that opened as part of the Phase 3 redevelopment.
We're on top of the world! We're over the moon (and stars)! We're certainly blue (but not sad)! We're feeling DINO-mite!
Opening day for #TheNewSLC Phase 3 had us feeling all of these things and more. Enjoy these photos from Phase 3 featuring:
Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) unveiled Phase 3 of its SLC Redevelopment Program, which includes the Central Tunnel, Concourse B Plaza, 12 concessions, 5 Delta Air Lines gates and new art and history installations.
Central Tunnel
The key new element is the Central Tunnel connecting A and B Concourses featuring a large-scale art installation by Artist Gordon Huether titled “The River Tunnel.”
This art installation reflects the rivers that flow through the state’s mountains and canyons. Huether even provides a Spotify playlist with more than 100 songs for the artwork.
As passengers exit The River Tunnel, they enter the Concourse B Plaza where there is an extension of The Canyon and the Northern Light oculus art installations by Huether.
Northern Light weighs 3.1 tons and is fabricated from 500 glass rods and 300 dichroic glass panels.
World Map returns
The Concourse B Plaza is now home to The World Map that once graced the floor of Terminal 1 in the original airport.
The World Map was created by Dallas stoneworker Julius Bartoli based on drawings by Ashton, Evans & Brazier and installed in Terminal 1 in 1960.
And a dinosaur!
A secret until opening day, SLC has made space for “Ally the Dinosaur,” a gift from the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU).
The replica fossil skeleton of Allosaurus fragilis—Utah’s state fossil—is the quintessential Late Jurassic carnivorous dinosaur. The giant animal roamed Utah’s landscapes 150 million years ago and is now one of the most popular dinosaurs worldwide.
New Concessions
This new phase at SLC includes a dozen new concessions as well.
Dining options include Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen; Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers; Maggiano’s Little Italy; Sunday’s Best; The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; and Thirst.
Shops include Cotopaxi; iStore Express; Relay; Travel Right; The Canyon; and Weller Book Works.
The River Tunnel is NOT filled with water
Contrary to what the airport announced on April 1 (April Fools Day), the tunnel is not filled with water.
And it does not have Disney-type boats instead of moving walkways with paddles provided to passengers who want to row their boats.
The Stuck at the Airport team loves art and amenity-rich airport expansions and Phase II of the Concourse A Expansion opening at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) on September 17 looks great.
The 200,000-square-foot expansion adds 10Â new gates, bringing the airport’s total number of gates to 124. The new gates will add seven for Delta Air Lines, two for Frontier Airlines and one common-use gate.
Eat and drink in CLT’s new gate area
In addition to an outpost of local favorite, Great Wagon Road Distilling, travelers will find Crown Diner, serving breakfast, burgers, salads and sandwiches. The airport’s third branch of Dunkin’ is here, as well as Market Place, offering snacks, beverages and other essentials.
Delta Air Lines plans to debut a 15,000-square-foot Sky Club here by the end of 2024.
Art and aviation history on display in CLT’s new gate area
By Gate A31 you’ll find a life-sized, 14×40-foot DC-9-82 T-Tail embedded in the terrazzo flooring.
Weighing in at 5,000 pounds, the “Mad Dog” was salvaged from Roswell, New Mexico, reimagined by MotoArt Studio in Los Angeles, and assembled at CLT as a hard-to-miss centerpiece.
Learn about the Wright Brothers’ “First in Flight” story on the way to the gate area. A light wall and the sound of the Wright Flyer accompany passenger movement. Four terrazzo lines, each marked by a bronze plaque, indicate the distances of the Wrights’ first powered flights.
And hanging from the mezzanine level is Val Britton’s 950-square-foot installation, “Where Earth Meets Sky,”
Reopened in June 2024, the CLT Airport Overlook has an unobstructed view of takeoffs and landings on the airfield, play areas, and exhibits about aviation history in the Carolinas.
The CLT Airport Overlook is also home to a retired U.S. military fighter jet: an F4 Phantom II that flew during the Vietnam War and the Cold War.
Oregon’s Portland International Airport (PDX) opens its doors today on a swanky new main lobby in the terminal that everyone will love.
The Stuck at the Airport team visited a few days before the space opened. Here are some (more) images from our tour.
The old carpet is back. In some places.
There are plenty of places in the airport that are carpeted. But PDX has brought back the social media-famous old carpet patten in a handful of spots in the terminal.
Stadium seating and giant video screens
Two sets of stadium seating with wood benches face each other in the middle of the main terminal lobby. Behind them – over the security checkpoints – are giant video screens with art and imagery of Oregon landscapes.
Art abounds in the new main terminal at PDX
Live trees, a 9-acre wooden roof and live plants
The new main terminal at PDX feels like a park with dozens of trees, a 9-acre timber roof, thousands of plants and lots of places to sit down and enjoy it all.
