Las Vegas McCarran International Airport

Fun, helpful, quirky news from airports near you

The social media team at StuckatTheAirport.com is updating our Twitter follow lists this week.

Here are some of the fun, useful, informative, and just plain cute airport tweets we spotted today.

New airport names; new airline planes

Alaska Airlines’ new Pride-inspired plane

We are totally loving Alaska Airline’s newly decorated Pride-inspired plane supporting the LGBTQ+ community. It’s the first of its kind in the United States and will be flying throughout the airline’s network for the next year.

Airport name changes

It’s official. T.F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island is now Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport (PVD).

Why did they make the change?

“Of the 376 primary mainland airports in the country as defined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) only 32, including T. F. Green Airport, did not have the city, region or state in its name,” the airport explains in a statement. And adding the geographical identifier “will better position Rhode Island’s main airport to support the state’s economy and tourism sector.”

Las Vegas’ McCarran Int’l Airport renamed for Harry Reid

Since 1968, the airport in Las Vegas has been named for Nevada’s late U.S. senator, Pat McCarran. He helped get the airport built, but left a legacy of racism and anti-Semitism. But earlier this year, Clark County commissioners in Nevada voted to change the name of the airport to Harry Reid International Airport, to honor the man who served as a Democratic senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017.

The name change isn’t quite official with the FAA just yet. But it looks like it is a pretty darn close because the name change is already being reflected on FAA charts.

New Art Gallery at Indianapolis International Airport

Indianapolis International Airport (IND), which opened in 2008 with $4 million in permanent art, now has an art gallery.

Called the KIND Gallery after the airport’s international airport code, the new gallery will feature rotating temporary art exhibits curated and coordinated in partnership with the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

The first gallery show is titled “Pareidolia.” The term refers to “the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern” and each artist in the show used clouds as their prompt to set their creativity into motion.

Souvenir Sunday: Vegas-branded face-masks from McCarran Int’l Airport (LAS)

It’s a sure sign of the times when the coolest souvenir you can pick up at the airport is a mask.

Better yet, this one is free and will no doubt become a collectible.

In Nevada, as in many states around the country right now, everyone is required to wear face coverings in public spaces due to concerns about COVID-19.

Even if not officially required, wearing a face-mask over your nose and mouth is proper etiquette right now. Like washing your hands often, it’s also an easy tool to help keep you and others healthy.

As it does with so many things, recently-reopened Las Vegas is having a bit of fun promoting the state’s face-mask requirement.

The tourism bureau sent showgirls to McCarran International Airport (LAS) to alert arriving passengers to the new rule. And to hand out free face masks.

Heading that way? McCarran International (LAS) has a long list of other ways it is working to make sure the airport is safe and clean for travelers and a fun Vegas-themed campaign of its own.

LAS has the airport amenity of the week

McCarran International Airport (LAS) has lots going for it.

Besides being in Las Vegas.

McCarran has a liquor store in the bag claim area. It has an aviation museum in the terminal. It has vending machines that dispense everything from cupcakes and Legos, to artist-made souvenirs and – sign of the times – hand sanitizers and masks.

McCarran International Airport also has about 1200 slot machines.

But those have been shut down for weeks along with all the casinos in town.

But now that the city’s lockdown has been lifted, the slot machines at LAS airport are turned back on.

So we will declare this our Airport Amenity of the Week!

Airport amenity of the week

It is definitely a sign of the times. And the airport amenity of the week.

To help passengers and employees comply with the face mask covering requirement at Denver International (DEN), the airport now has two vending machines that sell face masks as well as sanitizing wipes.

The vending machines are stocked with:

  • Two-pack disposable mask with one gel sanitizer packet and two single-use alcohol towelettes: $6/package
  • Two-pack KN95 mask with one gel sanitizer packet and two single-use alcohol towelettes: $12/package
  • 10-pack full-sheet sanitizing wipes: $4.25/package

Travelers will find the vending machines at the North end of Level 6 near the restrooms on the west side and on the South end of Level 5 around the corner from Boulder Beer Tap House on the west side.

Several DEN airport shops are now selling face masks and other hygiene items as well.

DEN isn’t the first airport in the United States to install a vending machine stocked with masks and sanitizing items.

That title goes to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas (LAS), which installed two such machines in mid-May.

No doubt these machines will soon pop up at airport everywhere.