Paine Field

Hot or not? This U.S. airport testing for fevers.

Health, Technology, , ,
Courtesy Paine Field Airport

What will air travel be like once the ‘stay home’ advisories are lifted?

Here’s a preview:

The passenger terminal at Paine Field (PAE) in Everett, WA, north of Seattle, just installed a fever detection system. The system is non-invasive, non-contact and scans passengers in the security checkpoint area to see if they’re running a fever.

Systems like this are in use in many Asian airports and in other parts of the world. But this seems to be the first time a fever detection system has been installed at a U.S. airport.

How does the Elevated Body Temperature Detection system work?

How does the Elevated Body Temperature Detection system work? Here’s how Athena Security describes it:

“The system identifies the face of the subject, ignores hot spots like hot lights above and other hot objects on the person like a cell phone or hot coffee. The person looks at the camera and the system finds the hottest point on the face near the eyes, called the inner canthus. Near the eyes is the area that most closely correlates with basal body temperature, so the subject needs to remove glasses and look at the camera.”

Athena Security also notes that the fever detection system only identifies elevated temperature. It does not diagnose any disease or virus, such as COVID-19.

The Paine Field passenger terminal is operated by Propeller Airports, which says the system is installed and operating in the area before the TSA checkpoint, which the airport, not TSA, controls.

Any passenger flagged as having a temperature will be offered secondary screening. If a fever is confirmed, “the passenger and the airline will determine their ability to travel,” Propeller Airports said in a statement.

While the fever detection system it is not a TSA-sponsored initiative, “the agency supports efforts by airports and airlines that help reduce the spread of the virus and allow a prudent return to normal operations,” TSA spokesman Lorie Dankers told Stuck at The Airport via email.

The fever detection is not the only innovative safety technology at Paine Field Airport. Last month the airport began using an innovative and proprietary UV technology to disinfect the terminal.  

The small Paine Field passenger terminal in Everett, WA opened in March 2019. Before schedule reductions due to COVID-19, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines were operating about 24 flights a day from PAE

What do you think? Are you willing to have your temperature taken at the airport?

Celebrating route launches to London, Paris, Hong Kong and other cool places

Inaugural flights, , , , , , , ,

Airports and airlines around the country hosted celebrations on Sunday for the launch of several new routes.

Dallas-Fort Worth International celebrated the inaugural Air France flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle.

The flight will operate up to five time a week on the Airbus A330 aircraft.

At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the party was to welcome American Airlines’ first nonstop flight to Phoenix from London.

In Washington State, United Airlines began flying daily nonstops between Paine Field (PAE) in Everett and both San Francisco and Denver.

And on Sunday, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) celebrated two new routes.

Japan Airline (JAL) started flying from SEA to Tokyo’s Narita Airport and Cathay Pacific began flying between SEA and Hong Kong.

The festivities for Cathay’s Pacific flight included a Lion Dance, a special cake and the ceremonial cutting of a roast pig, which is a symbol of good luck and prosperity.

Preview of Paine Field – “Seattle’s 2nd Airport”

Terminals, Uncategorized, , ,

Commercial passenger service begins March 4 from Paine Field in Everett, WA., about 30 miles north of downtown Seattle. And travelers in the area are pretty darn excited.

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines will be the only airlines flying from this upscale, two-gate terminal. But their offerings stretch pretty far:

Alaska Airlines has a schedule of 18 daily roundtrips to 8 west coast cities – Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose. Service starts March 4 with flights to Portland, Las Vegas and Phoenix and expand to the full schedule by March 12.

United Airlines will begin flying six daily flights from PAE on March 31: two daily roundtrips to Denver and four daily roundtrips to San Francisco.

I’ve got a column posting shortly on USA TODAY with more information, but here are some snaps from my visit to the terminal, which looks more like an upscale lounge than a small airport.

Solari board behind in check-in lobby will have the retro flipping sounds.

Waiting area has a very upscale lounge feel. But it’s for everyone.
Jet-bridges at both gates are glass sided.

Great seats for the great views out the windows: the passenger terminal sits on the same airfield where Boeing has a giant assembly plant.

Front of the new Paine Field passenger terminal in Everett, Wa.

More to come.

And now: United will fly from Everett’s Paine Field

Airports, , , ,

 

Courtesy Propeller Airports

First Alaska Airlines, And now United Airlines

United Airlines announced that it will begin flying six daily flights between Paine Field, north of Seattle, and both Denver and San Francisco beginning in the fall of 2018.

What’s the big deal about Paine Field?

It’s the airfield in Everett – 23 miles north of Seattle – where Boeing has a much-toured production plant and where there’s been talk – and debate – for  years of providing additional commercial flights for the traffic-clogged Seattle metro area.

The field was originally constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936 to create jobs and economic growth in the region and in 1939 United Airlines operated the first commercial flight from the airport, the carrier reminds us.

Paine Field has since become the center of Boeing’s production facilities producing many United aircraft including the 747, 767, 777, and the 787 airplanes and employing tens of thousands of employees:, the airline said in a release.

Back in May, Alaska Airlines announced it would be the launch carrier from Paine Field, with a planned nine flight beginning in Fall 2018.

Alaska Airlines to begin scheduled commercial air service from Paine Field in 2018

 

Alaska Airlines to start flying from “new” Seattle area airport

Airlines, ,

 

 

Here’s one way Alaska Airlines is dealing with the fact that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is reaching capacity: the carrier is going to begin operating some flights out of a ‘new’ airport in the region: Paine Field – Snohomish County Airport, which is the right next to Boeing’s giant assembly plant in Everett.

While Boeing’s newly -completed aircraft and private jets use Paine Field, it currently has no commercial service.

Over the years, there has been plenty of debate about using Paine Field for this purpose, though, because it is located about 20 miles north of Seattle and about 40 miles north of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.  Being able to catch a flight from there would allow travelers living north of Seattle to skip what has become terrible traffic that sometimes makes getting to the airport take longer than a regional flight.

Subject to government approvals, Alaska has announced that starting in the fall of 2018 it will begin offering up to nine daily flights out of the airport.

“We’re not quite ready to share details of the routes,” says John Kirby, Alaska’s vice president of capacity planning on the airline’s blog, “But I can tell you they won’t be limited to short, regional flights. We’re talking daily, nonstop flights to some of our most popular destinations.”

Construction of a “state of the art terminal” is slated to begin in June and Alaska said it will announce routes, flight schedules and begin selling tickets early next year.