The mural, titled “Well Done Good and Faithful Servant, The Carters,” is by Atlanta-based artist Fabian Williams, the Atlanta-based artist who also created the image below that was featured on the poster for the Jimmy Carter 100 celebration in September 2024.
You can see Williams’ mural of the Carters from an upper balcony of the domestic terminal above ATL’s North baggage claim.
Philadelphia is famous for cheesesteak sandwiches. And Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is marking National Cheesesteak Day, March 24, with a full week of cheesesteak events and specials in the terminals.
From Monday, March 24, through Sunday, March 30, passengers traveling through the airport will find exclusive offers, cheesesteak-inspired events and, of course, Philadelphia cheesesteaks.
Passengers will find free events 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the connector space between Terminals B and C.
Look for free samples of Pepsi Zero and Frito Lay, entertainment, a photo booth and assorted giveaways as well as a Cheesesteak Topping Bars (from noon to 1 p.m.) at Chickie & Pete’s, Cibo Bistro & Wine Bar and Passyunk Steaks.
From Monday, March 24 to Friday, March 28, use code PHLSTEAK to get 25% off one order at participating locations offering online mobile ordering through OrderAtPHL. (That code should work whether or not you’re ordering a cheesesteak.)
Weeklong Specialty Cheesesteak Creations & Meal Deals — March 24 to 30
Multiple PHL restaurants are serving up specialty cheesesteaks, including:
Bud & Marilyn’s: Shawarma cheesesteak — shawarma-spiced, marinated sliced ribeye steak on pita bread from Angel Bakeries, served with a cherry pepper tzatziki sauce
Chickie’s & Pete’s: Salmon cheesesteak with leaf lettuce, American cheese and mild pico de gallo
Passyunk Steaks: Salmon cheesesteak with spinach, red onions, roasted red peppers, and spicy mayo and lemon pepper cheesesteak — chopped prime ribeye steak with cheese, seasoned with lemon pepper
Tagliare: Pizza cheesesteak — sliced prime ribeye steak chopped with marinara sauce and mozzarella
Not passing through PHL airport during Cheesesteak Week? Don’t worry. You’ll find cheesesteaks and cheesesteak-inspired bits at these PHL food outlets year-round.
Bar Symon: Cheesesteak — sautéed, with provolone, mushrooms and onions
Chickie’s & Pete’s: Cheesesteak eggrolls, cheesesteak nachos and more
Geno’s Steaks: Pizza, mushroom and regular cheesesteak
Jack Duggan’s Pub & Restaurant: Cheesesteak eggrolls, chicken cheesesteak and more
Jim’s South St.: Chicken cheesesteak, veggie cheesesteak and more
Local Tavern: Classic cheesesteak
LOVE Grille: Beef, chicken and cauliflower cheesesteak
Noobar: Philly cheesesteak dumplings
Passyunk Steaks: Various cheesesteaks (onion, pizza, veggie and more)
Philly Pretzel Factory: Cheesesteak Rivets
Sabrina’s Cafe: Veggie Philly cheesesteak — seitan with sautéed onions and long hots
Subway: Philly and classic cheesesteak
Tony Luke’s: Various cheesesteaks (beef, chicken, veggie and more)
The free exhibit, in the Transit Museum’s Grand Central Gallery & Store, highlights the humor, challenges, and peculiarities of public transportation through the lens of some of the most iconic cartoonists of the past century.
Sarasota, Florida for World Circus Day
World Circus Day is coming up next month (April 19) and that would be a great excuse to head to Sarasota, Florida to visit the Circus Museum at The Ringling.
(Tibbals Circus Collection)
The Ringling’s Museum of Art is also currently hosting Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums.
The exhibit includes paintings, posters, photographs, costumes, film and other objects that explore the role art and objects played for mediums and magicians “communicating” with the dead during the 19th- and 20th-century Spiritualism movement in the U.S. and Europe.
Are you ready for Valentine’s Day? Many airports are. And you should too.
The Clark County Clerk’s Offices is already set up at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas offering marriage licenses and vow renewal certificates to arriving passengers at a pop-up marriage licence bureau in the Terminal 1 bag claim. It will be there through February 25.
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is getting ready to hand out 1,200 red, pink and white carnations to guests and employees at the information counters in all terminals on Friday, February 14.
Smooches from Pooches is returning to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) for Valentine’s Day this year, courtesy of the Canine Crew Therapy Dog Program from 10 a.m. to noon.
At California’s Long Beach Airport (LGB), a poet will be on duty again this year writing love poems on demand between 10 AM and 2 PM.
And between 10 AM and Noon on Valentine’s Day, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) will be hosting a free photo booth, craft projects for kids near the Children’s Play Area, SEA Pup Gracie, Jett the SEA Otter and valentines at the Central Terminal post-security.
SEA also has a great love story about “Gordy,” the SEA sloth that was discovered on Valetine’s Day back in 1961.
We know other airports are also planning to mark Valentine’s Day in special ways and we will add what we can as it arrives. If we’ve miss your airport, please let us know.
Featured performances in Terminal 2: 🐉 West Coast Lion Dance Company on Feb. 6 from 3:30 – 6:30 PM and Feb. 7 from 3 – 4:30 PM 🐍 Leung's White Crane Dragon and Lion Dance on Feb. 13 & 14 from 10 AM – 12 PM pic.twitter.com/MsROaB1In2
— San Francisco International Airport (SFO) ✈️ (@flySFO) January 29, 2025
(This is a slightly different version of a story we prepared first for The Points Guy site)
Over the past two years, 25.6 million travelers with disabilities have taken a total of 76.9 million trips and have spent almost $50 billion on travel per year. When you add their travel companions to the equation, this group spends over $100 billion per year on travel.
This data comes from a 2024 market study from the Open Doors Organization, a Chicago-based group that advocates for accessible services and goods.
Despite all that traveling and spending, ODO’s study found that in the past two years, more than 80% of travelers with disabilities have encountered obstacles when dealing with airlines and airports.
The problems include difficulty navigating narrow aircraft aisles, problems hearing announcements, long distances between gates, difficulty navigating terminals and lack of adequate seating areas.
And that doesn’t even address the jarring statistics of how often airlines lose or damage medical equipment and wheelchairs.
It wasn’t until December 2018 that the U.S. Department of Transportation began requiring airlines to report the total number of enplaned scooters and wheelchairs as well as the total number of scooters and wheelchairs mishandled.
Now, the DOT’s data shows that for every 100 wheelchairs or scooters transported on domestic flights, at least one is damaged, delayed or lost.
In October 2024, the DOT announced a $50 million fine against American Airlines for mishandling thousands of wheelchairs and failing to offer prompt wheelchair assistance — along with various other “serious violations” documented between 2019 and 2023.
“These problems are not unique to American Airlines,” the DOT said in a statement. It noted that it currently has “active investigations” into similar violations at other U.S. airlines.
New federal rules designed to help
New federal rules, evolving airline programs and innovative technology may bring improvements.
This change sets standards for assistance and requires hands-on training for airline employees as well as any contractors who physically assist passengers with disabilities and handle passengers’ wheelchairs.
For example, the rule requires that airlines provide “prompt enplaning, deplaning, and connecting assistance” and return all checked wheelchairs and other assistive devices to passengers “in the condition in which they are received.”
Airlines must also notify passengers — before they deplane — whether their wheelchair or scooter has been unloaded from the cargo compartment; they must provide appropriate loaner equipment if a wheelchair or scooter is mishandled.
Airport- and airline-specific changes
On their own, airlines and airports have been making progress in serving passengers with a wide range of disabilities.
It incorporates universally “rolled” curbs to floor-level baggage scales, couches without armrests to better accommodate travelers with mobility issues, and a tactile cane trail with ribbed tiles that runs from the check-in counters through the security checkpoint to the gates.
In France and 20 other countries, Air France offers a “bespoke” program called Saphir to provide assistance to travelers with disabilities.
In 2023, United Airlines became the first airline to add Braille markings on aircraft rows and inside lavatories. The full mainline fleet should have Braille signage by 2026.
More than three dozen domestic airports offer sensory rooms where neurodivergent travelers and their families will find furnishings, interactive activities and, in some cases, real airplane cabin seats that can help alleviate preflight anxiety.
Airports are also adding hearing loops that allow travelers with hearing disabilities to connect their hearing aids to an airport public address system and improve access to announcements for gate changes, boarding and other flight information.
Many airports also offer access to Aira — an app that provides people who are blind or have low vision with a live visual interpreter to help them navigate their surroundings — for free.
Delta Air Lines’ Flight Product division is working on a prototype for seating that will allow passengers to use their own wheelchairs on a plane.
American Airlines and its subsidiary Envoy Air currently offer travelers the use of autonomous, self-driving wheelchairs from Whill at a growing list of international and domestic airports, The list includes Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) and Narita International Airport (NRT), Miami International Airport (MIA), and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) is currently testing the wheelchairs, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is using them to supplement Alaska Airlines’ traditional, nonmotorized “pusher” wheelchair service.
Since August, more than 4,200 passengers at SEA have used autonomous wheelchairs, which drive themselves back to the base after delivering passengers to their gates.
Globally, air travel accessibility is getting attention as well. It was recently the topic of a symposium held by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Airports Council International and the International Air Transport Association.
“It is no secret that accessibility poses challenges for a significant number of our passengers who have disabilities,” IATA’s Director General Willie Walsh said in a statement. “Linking disparate approaches into a practical global outcome that will deliver for travelers without disappointment is the goal.”
A severe storm bearing down on the Gulf Coast will cause travel trouble for thousands on Tuesday – and beyond.
As of 1 AM EST on Tuesday, flight tracking service Flight Aware is showing close to 2,000 flights canceled, including all flights at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Hobby Airport (HOU), both of which halted operations at midnight.
To prioritize the safety of our passengers and staff, and due to extremely hazardous road conditions throughout Houston, flight operations at IAH will be temporarily suspended at 12 A.M. on Tuesday, January 21. Please do not attempt to travel to the airport after this time. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/YItcX5ta6w
To prioritize the safety of our passengers and staff, and due to extremely hazardous road conditions throughout Houston, flight operations at HOU will be temporarily suspended at 12 A.M. on Tuesday, January 21. Please do not attempt to travel to the airport after this time. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/mx7NvSYDsk
Most flights at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) have also been canceled.
Most airlines at #MSY have cancelled flight ops, and depending on weather conditions, most airlines plan to resume operations on Wed., Jan. 22, 2025. Passengers are advised to check directly with their airlines on the most up to date flight info.https://t.co/Jxli8WM9uLpic.twitter.com/K6njAlxAlH
If you have a reservation to fly in the next few days, be sure to check with your airline for delays or cancellations.
Here are the links to the travel alerts and waiver policies in effect for flights affected by the Winter Storm Enzo in the Gulf Coast and Winter Storm Demi in the Northeast. Many airlines also have change fee waivers still in effect for the Southern California wildfires.
Alaska Airlines Winter storm change fee waiver in effect for flights to, from or through Washington DC (DCA), Dulles, VA (IAD), Baltimore, MD (BWI), Philadelphia, PA (PHL), Newark, NJ (EWR), New York, NY (JFK) and Boston, MA (BOS).
American Airlines About 40 cities are included in the carrier’s travel alert for flights scheduled January 20-22.
Delta Air Lines Change fee waivers are in effect for Atlanta, the Gulf Coast, the Northeast and Southern California.
Frontier Airlines Travel alert is in effect for many cities on the East Coast and the Gulf Coast.
JetBlue Travel alert is in effect for cities in the path of Winter Storm Enzo and Winter Storm Demi and those affected by the Southern California wildfires.
Southwest Airlines A travel alert is in effect for flights affected by Winter Storm Enzo, Winter Storm Demi and the Southern California wildfires.
United Airlines Travel alert is in effect for flights to, through and from dozens of cities affected by Winter Storm Enzo, Winter Storm Demi and the Southern California wildfires.
If you’re traveling or picking up someone from San Antonio International Airport, please contact your airlines for the latest travel information. The winter weather is impacting many flights across the United States. Our dedicated team continues to monitor weather conditions. pic.twitter.com/2AMEq7eM0Z
— San Antonio International Airport (@SATairport) January 20, 2025
For thirty years – from April 12, 1982, to July 21, 2011 – these were the five orbiters that flew in space for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Space Transportation System (STS), or space shuttle, program. (A sixth space shuttle, Enterprise, was a test vehicle that didn’t go into space).
As NASA proudly notes, the space shuttles flew 135 missions and not only repeatedly carried people into orbit, but they also “launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station.”
While all the space shuttle missions took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, more than 50 of those missions landed in the Mojave Desert at Edwards Air Force Base in California, about 100 miles from Los Angeles.
And, as photographer Ted Huetter documents in Waiting for Spaceships: Scenes from a Desert Community in Love with the Space Shuttle, thousands of people would gather to welcome the space shuttles on their return to Earth.
“Some spectators came because they had helped build the shuttles,” while many viewers came from greater Los Angeles and “adventurous retirees from around the country made Florida to California treks in the recreational vehicles, bookending the trips with the shuttle launch and landing,” Huetter writes.
But he also notes, “The only snag was that they had to watch [the landings] from a harsh patch of desert about three miles from the runway.”
To accommodate the enthusiastic and dedicated spectators, a day before each scheduled shuttle landing the Air Force would open an authorized viewing site where people could set up camp.
At that remote site, the military directed traffic and supplied tanks of potable water, portable sanitary facilities, generators, streetlights, a first aid station, and a command post, Huetter reports, “but generally kept a low profile and a friendly presence.”
Huetter was working in Los Angeles and made the trek to the desert to camp with the shuttle aficionados for eight of the space shuttle landings during the 1980s, beginning with STS-4, the fourth mission for the Space Shuttle Columbia, which landed at Edwards Air Force Base on Independence Day, July 4, 1982. STS-4 was also the fourth shuttle shuttle mission overall and the final test flight before the program was deemed officially operational.
“I was there as a fan like most of the people at the public landing site, to experience some spaceflight history,” in person instead of watching it on TV, said Huetter.
For each shuttle landing adventure, Huetter packed his camera gear along with his camping gear. And the photographs he took during those trips not only document a unique slice of the space age but also of the viewing site and of the people who gravitated to it year after year.
His images, taken with film in the pre-digital camera era, show the landing runways, but also the diverse range of RVs and tents, the food and souvenir vendors and the diversity of people waiting, mingling, enjoying themselves, and, finally, welcoming the shuttles home. His selected shots are organized to create a composite of twenty-four hours at the campsite, from the arrival of the first campers to the touchdown of the shuttles.
Here’s where you can see the retired Space Shuttles
Space Shuttle Atlantis is at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Merrit Island, Florida, where the vehicle is displayed in flight, along with dozens of interactive exhibits about the history, technology and impact of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.
Space Shuttle Discovery is on view at the National Air & Space Museum’s Steven Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
Space Shuttle Endeavour is at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California but is off view while construction of a 200,000-square-foot addition to the main building is underway.
Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff on January 28, 1986. Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated returning to Earth on February 1, 2003.
Each of ATL’s North and South steel canopies stretches out 864 feet by 200 feet. The canopies provide shade over eight lanes of traffic at the airport’s curbside drop-off and pick-up areas and have LED lighting displays.
In 2025, a special centennial design will be displayed on the canopies every night except for the nights when a scheduled holiday or special day is being honored. The 2025 schedule isn’t posted yet, but in 2024 ATL’s canopies were lit in various colors for more than 22 special days marking everything from Valentine’s Day and President’s Day to Autism Awareness, Earth Day and Christmas.
