Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport

At the Airport: News from GSP, FLL & Alaska Airlines

GSP Airport Debuts a History Museum

South Carolina’s Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) celebrated its Dedication Day on November 4, 1962.

Fifty-nine years later, the airport unveiled its History Museum, detailing decades of serving the community.

The 350 square foot History Museum is near the Escape Lounge in GSP’s Grand Hall and is accessible to departing and arriving passengers 24 hours a day.

The museum gives visitors a detailed look at GSP from the founders’ vision in the 1940s through the present day and on to future plans. Exhibits include photos, videos, and first-hand accounts of the airport’s impact on the region. A special section is dedicated to the Flatwood Peaches baseball team that played on fields where the airport is located.

Airport Employees Share Their Art at FLL

In Florida, Broward County’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is hosting the sixth installment of its employee artwork exhibition titled I Bet You Didn’t Know. This year, the exhibit showcases 46 artworks by 28 FLL employees and is on view through March 17, 2022, in the walkway connecting Terminals 3 and 4.

The work includes paintings, drawings, collages and acrylic pours, by artists whose airport jobs include security personnel, vendor operators, flight attendants, and other professions.

You can see all the works in the FLL exhibition online here.

John Berry ‘Jurassic Airport’

Alaska Airlines Now Serves Boxed Water

Next time you’re served a cup of water on Alaska Airlines, you’ll notice it being poured out of a box, not a plastic bottle into a paper, not a plastic cup.

This week Alaska Airlines did a great thing for the environment by swapping out single-use plastic water bottles and plastic cups for Boxed Water Is Better brand cartons and recyclable paper cups in the main cabin on all its flights.

The carrier made the switch in the First Class cabin a while back, so now Alaska is laying claim to the title of the first in the industry to move completely away from plastic for its water service.

That’s a big deal because this will eliminate about 32 million plastic water bottles and 22 million plastics cups per year from Alaska flights. The 1.8 million pounds of single use plastics per year avoided is equivalent to 18 Boeing 737s. You can read more about the program and the Boxed Water is Better Brand company in the story we wrote for The Points Guy.

More robots to help keep travelers safe and sanitized

We adore the rolling little “Ask me!” robots some airports have hired to answer questions and help passengers find their way around.

But they seem more entertainment than essential.

But thanks to the pandemic, robots are getting a promotion at many airports – as super cleaners.

Robots clean up before we fly

Airports and airlines are scrambling to get the latest technology in place to keep terminal spaces and airline cabins disinfected and sanitized.

And robots are doing their part.

In May, Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) and Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Robotics put a pair of self-driving, robot floor scrubbers on duty.

In July, JetBlue kicked off a 90-day pilot program at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to evaluate Honeywell’s UV Cabin System.

These robots use ultraviolet light to clean an aircraft cabin in about 10 minutes.

Other airports and airlines have deployed robot-like tools as well.

And now San Antonio International Airport (SAT) enters the picture with its shiny new purchase: the Xenex LightStrike robot.

This robot is billed as “the only ultraviolet (UV) room disinfection technology proven to deactivate SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19.”

SAT says the LightStrike uses environmentally-friendly pulsed xenon and can disinfect an area in less than 10-15 minutes without warm-up or cool-down time. They plan to use it pretty much everywhere in the airport, including jet bridges, gate areas, ticketing counters, baggage claim, concessions, elevators, and restrooms.

And it looks like the LightStrike robot is here to stay. SAT airport plans to have a contest to give the robot a name.

Super Bowl-bound? Airports and TSA ready.

Airports and TSA bracing for Super Bowl travelers  

Long before the final matchup was set for Super Bowl LIV on February 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, South Florida airports and security officials were making game plans.

The task: deal with record-setting numbers of arriving and departing fans.

FLL, MIA and PBI Airports ready.

At Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL), which is about 18 miles from the stadium, signage for the big game adorns doors, walls, columns, and baggage belt areas.

“There won’t be a place on the airport where you won’t see some reference to the Super Bowl,” said airport spokesman Greg Meyer.

To prepare for and impress sports fans, many of whom may be visiting the airport and the area for the first time, FLL has put 160 live plants throughout the terminals and artificial greenery in the restrooms.

Teams are polishing terrazzo floors, shampooing the carpeting, pressure cleaning the sidewalks, scouring the restrooms and detailing the shuttles that run between the terminals and the rental car center.  

“We do much of this cleaning normally,” said Meyer, “but doing it just prior to the game will make sure we look our best.”

Before and after the big game, FLL will have extra staff on duty and more than 60 volunteers on-site to help guests navigate through the airport.

Airport concessionaires are doing their part too. Store hours are extended hours and there’s plenty of official team and game gear for sale.

Magically, memorabilia to celebrate the winning team will be for sale immediately after the game.

MIA Airport ready too

Miami International Airport is doing much the same,” said airport spokesman Greg Chin.

MIA is about 18 miles from Hard Rock Stadium and expects above-average passenger traffic on the three days prior to and the day after Super Bowl Sunday. On Monday, Feb 3, about 90,000 passengers are projected to depart MIA, which would be a single-day record for departures at the airport.

In addition to a pre-game facility spruce-up, MIA is adding some bonus features as well.

Through Super Bowl Sunday, MIA’s public address system will be playing rotating welcoming messages from three former All-Pros: Miami Dolphins legends Dan Marino, Nat Moore and Jason Taylor.

And through the end of February, travelers can view Duane Hanson’s iconic, hyperrealist sculpture, “Football Player” on the D Concourse, between Gates D47 and D48.

Also through the end of February, the Wolfson Moving Images exhibition on Concourse F is featuring archive video from past Miami Super Bowls and Miami Dolphins history on a set of old-style flight monitors.

Both FLL AND MIA also have detailed airport navigation information, arrival, and departure tips on their websites. Each airport also has important alerts about human trafficking, on the “Countdown to Takeoff Playbook” posted on their respective websites.

And passengers arriving before the Super Bowl on Thursday and Friday (1/30 and 1/31) at Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), 58 miles from Hard Rock Stadium, will be greeted with special welcoming messages as well as giveaways and promotional items in the Bag Claim level.

Concessionaires at PBI are laying in the sports-themed memorabilia as well.

TSA gearing up for the game

During the Super Bowl week, TSA, local and county police departments, Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies will be adding extra teams and showing a hi-visibility presence at all area airports

And to help with the crush of fans leaving on February 3, some security checkpoints will open early at both FLL and MIA and additional checkpoints will stay open 24 hours. 

While not all security precautions being taken can be shared, according to TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz, FLL will have 6 extra canine teams, additional support from Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) and the Broward Country Sheriff’s office, and 40 extra Transportation Security Officers on duty to help at checkpoints and baggage areas.

Koshetz says 10 additional TSA canine teams will also join the eleven TSA canine teams already at MIA. There will be 60 additional TSA Officers to augment the TSA Miami Officer staff and help keep additional checkpoint lanes open on throughout the day.

Follow the countdown plan

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the National Football League, hospitality organizations and the airports are encouraging passengers heading home after the game on February 3 to follow the “5-4-3-2-1” plan.

The campaign encourages travelers to check out of hotels 5 hours before departure flight time; to return rental cars 4 hours before their flights, and to check-in at the airline ticket counters 3 hours before their flights. TSA hopes travelers will go through security at least 2 hours before their flights and be at their gates an hour before flight time.

For security reasons, TSA is also asking Super Bowl travelers heading home after the big game to pack their commemorative programs in carry-ons, not in checked bags.

In previous years, the composition and thickness of these programs prevented TSA’s machines and human scanners from seeing beneath the booklets in checked bags, requiring those bags to alarm and be opened.

(My story about airports and TSA getting ready for Super Bowl fans first appeared on USA TODAY in a slightly different format.)


Smelled any great airports lately?

Like many shops, restaurants, and even a few amusement parks, The May Fair, a 5-star luxury hotel in London, has its own special scent. It’s not that the hotel’s natural scent was so bad; the owners just hope guests will forever associate the smell of sea grass with a relaxing, pleasant stay at the hotel.

nose

If it works for hotels, could it work for airports? Officials at many airports I contacted deny artificially scenting the air in the terminals. But officials at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport say it’s something they’d consider if it made the passenger experience more pleasurable.  But next time you’re at an airport, sniff around: it turns out there are indeed some airports that send special scents into the air.

Find out more in my Smelled any good airports? story posted today in USATODAY.com.

And let me know:  what would be a good scent for your favorite airport?