celebrities

Airports (and a museum) remember Charlie Watts

The Rolling Stones’ drummer, Charlie Watts, died on Tuesday and several airports, including Philadelphia International Airport and Dublin Airport – and Seattle’s Museum of Flight – went into their archives to share photos.

Celebrities welcome you to Miami Int’l Airport

Here’s another sign that the world of travel is moving back towards normal:

Miami International Airport (MIA) is bringing back celebrity welcome messages to its public address system.

The Voices of MIA program launched in 2019 and featured the voices of local celebrities including Miami Heat stars Alonzo Mourning and Udonis Haslem, celebrity chef Adrianne Calvo, Grammy-winning producer Emilio Estefan and telenovela star Jencarlos Canela.

The refreshed 2021 series of celebrity welcome messages includes rapper and singer Flo Rida; actor, singer and composer Carlos Ponce; celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein; rapper and TV personality Trina; and celebrity chef and TV personality Chef Pepín. Listen for the messages on MIA’s address system around the clock on a rotating basis.

And if you’re traveling through Miami International Airport, or have friends or family meeting you there or dropping you off, keep in mind this is one of the airports hosting a free COVID-19 vaccination site through July 31.

MIA’s Military Hospitality Lounge recently reopened as well.

Come Fly With Me: Book Features Celebs in Transit

Photo by Dennis Stone/Shutterstock. Joan Collins JOAN COLLINS

Have you ever spotted a celebrity in the airport or on your flight during your travels? It’s a bit of a thrill, right?

A new book coming out from Rizzoli called Come Fly With Me: Flying in Style, is filled with paparazzi-taken images of actors, rock stars, and others coming and going from airports around the world.

Jodi Peckman an award-winning creative director, photo editor, and writer who spent thirty years working with Rolling Stone magazine, chose the images for the book, which you can read about in our story on The Runway Girl Network

Before yo go, here are a few other images from the book.

Frank Zappa with straw boater hat at London’s Heathrow airport. April 1975

Listen up at Los Angeles International Airport

Local entertainers, sports figures, musicians, actors, chefs and other celebrity voices from Los Angeles are lending their voices to the recorded welcome messages at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

The first group of voices include:

  • Jimmy Kimmel, host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
  • Justin Turner, third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers
  • Gustavo Dudamel, internationally renowned conductor, Music and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
  • Susan Feniger, L.A.-based chef, author, radio and TV personality, and owner of BBQ Mexicana, Socalo and Border Grill restaurants, which has a location inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal. 

The messages will rotate throughout the day and be replaced on a regular basis with new voices. Travelers will hear the messages on the overhead announcement system at the curb and inside each terminal.

Give a listen to the new celebrity welcome messages at LAX here.

Why is LAX doing this?

“Los Angeles is globally recognized as the entertainment capital of the world, offering the best in movies, television, sports, music, food and culture,” said Deborah Flint, CEO, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). “We continue to put the L.A. in LAX by offering our guests immersive experiences – from fashion shows to performances by local musicians and artists – so we are excited to begin welcoming tens of millions of people with voices of iconic, local personalities.”

While LAX may have a more famous group of celebrities to choose from, LAX isn’t the first airport to do this.

McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Denver International Airport and many others invite local dignitaries, entertainers, sports players and others to record welcome messages and public service information advisories for travelers.

So listen up. And let us know your favorites.



At Miami Airport: The Beatles, Bob Hope, Ava Gardner & more

 

Earlier this week, Miami International Airport shared a very short sample of the longer reels of film clips now showing on old-style flight display monitors in Concourse F at the airport.

The reels were put together by the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives at Miami Dade College and the reel filled with celebrities arriving at MIA from the 1950s through the 1980s is especially fun to watch.

Looks for Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, Liberace, Ed Sullivan, Susan Hayward, The Beatles, Bob Hope, Jane Mansfield, Eleanor Roosevelt, Spiderman, Sylvester Stallone, and Elizabeth Taylor, among others.

 

By showing this reel of clips – and the other below, “We are hoping that passengers and airport staff would be delighted to see how the airport and city looked years ago. It’s a real treat to contemplate, through these images, that Miami has a long history of aviation and airports, especially when you consider that Miami is a relatively young city – founded in 1896,” said Gendry Sherer, MIA Fine Arts and Cultural Affairs Director, “Also, I think it’s quite enjoyable to see for instance the Beatles, Frank Sinatra and all these other celebrities arriving and departing from MIA, but most interesting is just seeing everyday people at the airport or seeing families enjoy a day at the beach – normal activities locals and travelers still enjoy today.”