But we are enjoying the way airports around the country are using the ‘How it Started vs. How it’s going’ meme to show off their lovely modern terminals.
Feel free to send us others you find. We will add them to the list over the weekend.
— Norfolk International Airport (@NorfolkAirport) October 9, 2020
If you spot other airports posting their “How it started” photos, please let us know. We may break this up into two posts. Or lean how to make an album.
Part of the airport art program’s mural series, Plein Air Port is by local artist Aaron Glasso. The 144-foot-long piece combines images of the San Diego landscape and the airport’s architecture with abstract imagery.
Look for this hard-to-miss work along SAN’s interior roadway through 2021 on Admiral Boland Way, which runs between the terminal and the rental car center.
New terminal opens at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
The opening marks the completion of the first phase of the 7-year, $4.1 billion project and includes the 900,000-sq.-ft. central terminal building and two linear concourses with 45 gates.
A time capsule was part of the opening day events. Items placed in the time capsule include a 1996 Airport Master Plan, a wooden bear carving, eagle feathers and sweet grass. Also in the time capsule: a hard drive with construction drawings and a letter to future airport employees written by current airport employees.
The second phase of the SLC new terminal project is scheduled to be completed in 2024. This phases will include a south concourse with 22 additional gates, allowing the airport to accommodate 34 million passengers a year.
StuckatTheAirport.com is planning an in-person visit to the new SLC terminal as soon as we feel safe to fly. But in the meantime, here are some snaps and a video shared by the airport and HOK, the architectural firm for the facility.
“The Canyon” by Gordon Heuther
The interior atrium is the length of a football field and features a 362-foot-long sculpture titled “The Canyon” by Gordon Huether. The work is designed to evoke Utah’s red rock canyons, alpine peaks, and moving water.
https://youtu.be/ODg05eXF8G0
Sign up for the Travel 2021 Summit
Will we ever be able to travel again? And, if so, what will that be like?
No one knows for sure, but an interesting group of travel experts is going to talk about it on October 7-8 during the online Travel 2021 Summit.
I am on the agenda talking about what airlines and airports are doing to make travelers feel safe now and what air travel may be like in the future.
Want to attend? Here is a link to the Travel 2021 Summit where you can get a discount on tickets. Early bird pricing ends September 17. Use code SEPT50 for $50 off the registration fee.
The new, 850,000-square-foot, four-story, state-of-the-art Terminal B Arrivals and Departures Hall at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) opens to the public on Saturday, June 13.
And it is a winner.
A key part of the LGA’s ongoing $8 billion rebuild, the new facility has local concessions, modern restrooms, and a New York-inspired shopping district.
Passengers flying on American Airlines, Air Canada, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines will be using the new terminal at LGA, which has impressive new permanent public art installations.
What’s in the New Terminal B at LGA
The new Terminal B departures level has four check-in islands with 75 individual check-in kiosks and a central oversize bag check-in station.
There are 17 large restrooms. And 16 security lanes with signs showing passenger wait times. There’s also new state-of-the-art technology for screening passengers and baggage.
At the arrivals level, there are nine large new baggage carousels.
The 17 retail and food/beverage concessions include many local favorites.
Among them: Eli’s Essentials by New York food legend Eli Zabar, Chef Marc Forgione’s new Mulberry Street restaurant, and Junior’s Cheesecake.
Contactless ordering available from the in-airport food delivery app At Your Gate.
LGA’s new Terminal B also has great public art
Public Art Fund and LaGuardia Gateway Partners, the developer and operator of Terminal B, chose great public art pieces for the new LGA Terminal B.
The key pieces are by Jeppe Hein, Sabine Hornig, Laura Owens, and Sarah Sze.
Take a look:
Those aren’t ‘lost’ balloons up on the ceiling but Jeppe Hein’s work “All Your Wishes.”
The piece includes dozens of colorful and reflective balloon-shaped steel sculptures distributed, as if floating, throughout the terminal.
The bright red bench sculptures that are both whimsical and useful are also Hein’s work.
Sabine Hornig’s “La Guardia Vistas” is a pair of interlocking cityscapes made up of more than 1100 photographs of New York City.
The work’s title refers to Fiorello La Guardia, founder of the airport and New York City Mayor from 1934 to 1945. And the piece includes 20 quotes from and about La Guardia.
Laura Owens’ pop-art-ish tiled mosaic mural celebrates New York City and covers the airport’s largest interior wall.
And “Shorter than the Day,” by Sarah Sze, is a monumental sculpture made of hundreds of images that form a sphere that appears to float in mid-air.
Things are definitely looking up for LaGuardia Airport and for anyone traveling to or from New York.
Airports serve as the front doors to their cities and many do a great job of rolling out the welcome mat for visitors.
Some airports do it with art. Some airports do it with “Welcome to” signs.
And others do it with recorded messages.
Los Angeles International Airport has been welcoming visitors with its “Voices of Los Angeles” project. The program greets passengers with recorded messages from notable and well-known local figures.
Since the inauguration of the Voices of Los Angeles program in July 2019, passengers and visitors at LAX have been treated to welcome messages recorded by entertainers, sports figures, musicians, actors, and chefs. The common theme: they all have what the airport calls “the spirit of Los Angeles.”
Now there are three new familiar voices in the line-up:
TV and film actor Danny Trejo – who also owns several restaurants, including Trejo’s Taco at LAX;
Academy Award-winning actress Allison Janney;
And former LA Lakers basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
Give a listen:
These messages are now playing on the overhead public announcement system in each terminal. New voices and new messages will continue to be rotated in on a regular basis.
When in place, the walkway will look like this and be the longest structure over an active airport taxiway.
Pretty impressive, right?
But as impressive is what it takes to make the project happen.
For example, overnight on Thursday, the center span of that elevated pedestrian walkway was – very carefully – moved down the closed center runway to its new home.
Here are some of the tweets SEA shared as the process unfolded.
Pedestrian walkway first look! 👀 This center section will complete the IAF aerial walkway structure. It was built offsite and is the largest and most complex pre-fabricated component of the walkway weighing in at 1,560 tons. That’s equivalent to 14 blue whales! 🐳 #IAFWalkwaypic.twitter.com/4CAjOhk6H2
Get excited! The IAF aerial walkway is ready for its take-off. 🛫 Here’s everything you need to know about the move and lift. #IAFWalkwayhttps://t.co/3toVkuFaQD
One of the most iconic elements of the IAF — and one of the most complex engineering projects ever done at SEA — is the #IAFWalkway. It's been nearly 8 years in the making. And tonight, for the first time EVER, the walkway will be visible to travelers. https://t.co/cgJiMphS9Upic.twitter.com/xdHa0aLdhF
The #IAFWalkway center span— loaded on to four remote-controlled transporters — has made its first turn out of the staging area where it was constructed and is headed to the runway. pic.twitter.com/ItpPITIBYD
The Saturday-only gate pass program that Tampa International Airport (TPA) launched in May is going so well that starting January 18 the airport will being offering non-ticketed visitors access to the airside terminals every day of the week.
Why go to the airport if you don’t have to?
In addition to accompanying a friend or loved one to the gate or being there when they get home, a gate pass to an airside at Tampa International Airport offers the chance to plane spot, dine in one of the airport’s top-notch restaurants or shop in the stores.
TPA’s All Access program operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and issues passes to 25 people per airside each day. (Each airside – A, C, E and F – has its own security checkpoint).
Visitors may sign up online 24 hours in advance and, if approved, go to the Information Kiosk on Level 3 of the Main Terminal on the day of their visit to show a photo ID and pick up their pass. After that, visitors go through the security checkpoints at their chosen Airside, just like regular ticketed passengers.
Great news, Tampa Bay residents: Our post-security All Access program is expanding from Saturdays only to daily!
As we’ve reported before, airport visitor pass programs are definitely now a trend. Non-ticketed passengers can apply to visit Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), the still-shiny-new Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY) and Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW).
No doubt other airports will begin offering gate pass programs
soon too!
The pilot DTW Destination Pass program
at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) which allows non-ticketed
passengers past the security checkpoint began in October and was supposed to
end this week.
But so many non-ticketed visitors are
interested in visiting DTW airport to shop, dine, check out airplanes and spend
more time with friends and family starting or ending their travels that airport
officials have decided to keep the program going indefinitely.
“We understand that our facility is more than
just an airport—it is a place where memories are made,” said WCAA CEO Chad
Newton, “One participant of the program shared with us that she was able to
bring her 3-year-old nephew to the airport to greet his parents and see
airplanes for the first time.”
The DTW Destination Pass program is limited to 75 visitor passes per day. Passes can be used from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Check the DTW website for details about applying for a pass.
Where else can you get an airport gate pass?
DTW is just the latest airport to welcome non-ticketed passengers past the security checkpoint.
Art at SEA airport
In December, Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport (SEA) brought back and made permanent the SEA Visitor Pass program, which
gives non-ticketed guests access to the secure side of the airport.
Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) started
the trend by introducing the myPITPass program in
August 2017. That program operates Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tampa International Airport (TPA) began
offering its All Access pass in April, 2019, welcoming guests on
Saturdays.
Photo La Gourmetreise, Courtesy New Orleans & Company
And Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) began welcoming non-ticketed guests into the new terminal on December 4.
The MSY Guest Pass is offered seven days a week, with a limit of 50 visitors Monday through Friday and 100 visitors on Saturdays and Sundays.
Starting with an early morning flight at around 4 a.m., all 16 commercial airlines at MSY will operate from the new terminal. The old terminal will be close to the public tonight.
StuckatTheAirport is in town for the switchover. We will share snaps of closing and opening ceremonies. We’ll also check out all the fresh amenities in the new terminal.
In addition to some great, locally-themed shops and restaurants, the new terminal promises power chargers at 50% of the gate area seats, water bottle refill stations, the three Mothers Rooms and music venues. The “fully automated” restrooms promise “sanitary seat covers.”
That’s tomorrow.
Today we’re sharing some snaps of the old terminal gathered on our way in. In case you’ll miss is.
We’re hoping this mural of New Orleans Jazz musicians makes a return.
StuckatTheAirport.com toured the new $12 billion Istanbul Airport (IST) terminal this week.
We’ll circle back to share more information and advice about making your way through this shiny new space, but we wanted to share just a few snaps of what we saw on our tour.
Great selfie-spot in the main terminal area at Istanbul Airport Cute robots are available at Istanbul Airport to answer questions and help travelers find their way. A Yotel with rooms a landside restaurant and bar and rooms on both airside AND landside is in the main terminal lobby of Istanbul Airport.
There are, of course, shops and restaurants galore at Istanbul Airport.
And spaces where travelers can stop and nap.
More about the new Istanbul Airport soon.
Have you been to the new Istanbul Airport? Tell us what you saw – and bought?
The lid has been lifted on the finalists for this year’s America’s Best Restroom contest and this year restrooms in two airports on opposite sides of the country are on the list.
LaGuardia Airport’s loos in the running
LaGuardia Airport Terminal B, Location: Queens, New York, LaGuardia Gateway Partners
If the restrooms at LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B are among the finalists
for America’s Best Restroom, there may indeed be hope for the overall success
of the airport’s current rebuild.
With an eye to efficiency and innovation, these new restrooms have stalls
large enough to accommodate luggage, trough-style sinks with a raised counter
above; live orchids, custom mosaic tiles at the entryway and over the urinals
and graphics depicting New York City on the stall doors.
Courtesy LaGuardia Gateway Partners
“Terminal B’s new restrooms combine cleanliness, innovative
aesthetics and advanced technology together to create a top-class guest experience that
travelers deserve,” said Stewart Steeves, CEO of LaGuardia Gateway
Partners.
On a roll at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Courtesy Port of Seattle
Lovely new restrooms are part of the major renovation project for the North
Satellite at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
These new loos feature a flushing system that harvests rainwater to the tune of more than 750,000 gallons a year. The modern
loos also have separate sinks inside the ADA
stalls, family restrooms with adult changing tables and built-in custodial support closets.
“We appreciate that people think we have some of the best
seats in the house. said Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper, “That’s how we roll.”
The eight other restrooms on the list of finalists this year include
loos at the Nashville Zoo, at the Natick Mall in Massachusetts, at the Jupiter
NEXT hotel in Portland and at restaurants, a brewpub and the New Museum of
Contemporary Art in New York City.
Courtesy New Museum
You can cast a vote
for the coolest commode through September 13. The winning
loo will take a throne in America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame and receive
$2,500 in facility services from contest sponsor Cintas Corporation.
