But as luck would have it, when the new main terminal opens later this year, it will feature patches of the old carpet pattern in a few places.
The PDX teams had a local company recreate the original pattern and will be installing 5,865 square feet of that carpeting in spots where passengers and visitors will most likely be sitting, resting, and listening to music in the new main terminal area.
We can barely wait!!!
Let’s hope they bring back all the PDX Carpet souvenirs too.
“This nonstop service on Flight CHBZ will depart from the Manyard H. Jackston International Terminal from Gate F8 at 7:30 p.m,” the airport said in a statement,” adding that concessions were going to be serving “Wakandan-inspired dishes pre-flight.”
That flight number, CHBZ, was unusual. But it was a nod to the late Chadwick Bosman, the actor who played film protagonist King T’Challa.
🗣Breaking News: Hartsfield-Jackson announces the return of direct flights to Wakanda! pic.twitter.com/EEkMPFYsJt
This isn’t the first time ATL got into the Wakanda spirit. Back in 2018, when Black Panther debuted, the airport announced that Flight 1234 would be heading to Wakanda as well.
The service is available inside MKE’s Summerfest Marketplace, which is located presecurity in the Airport’s concession mall.
Passengers heading to destinations where the weather promises to be warm can check coats, gloves, and other cold weather gear and travel lighter. When they return, their coats will be warm and waiting for them.
The service is available seven days a week, and is open through the last flight of each day from now until April 1.
This is the fourth year the service is being offered and the cost remains a reasonable $2 per day, with a maximum of $10 per trip.
PDX Carpet Gets Sporty
Courtesy Portland Trailblazers
The iconic carpet pattern that once graced the terminal floors of Portland International Airport (PDX) lives on. And on.
The latest tribute to the flooring design comes from none other than city’s professional baskeball team, the Portland Trailblazers.
They team’s new City Edition Uniform bears a teal sash that is an homage to the PDX Carpet pattern that represented the view of the North and South runways as seen overhead by air traffic controllers. The carpet gained cult status in the 1990s and was replaced in 2015. (But it’s coming back...)
The @trailblazers’ new City Edition Uniform has landed and it pays homage to our iconic carpet ✈️
Portland International Airport (PDX) warmed the hearts of airport carpet fans everywhere with its Valentine’s Day announcement promising the return of the iconic PDX carpet to a few spots in the new main terminal.
The teal, purple and pink design, which is said to represent the pattern of the airport’s north and south runways, had been in the airport since 1988. And many travelers had come to love it. Or at least to associate it with leaving and coming home.
And when social media became a thing, people started taking photos of their feet on the carpet and sharing the photos around.
After 30 years underfoot, though, the carpet needed replacement. And to the dismay of all the fans of the old PDX carpet, in 2015 PDX officials took out 13 acres of the old carpet and replaced it with this new carpet pattern.
People still miss and love the old carpet design, which can be found on socks, t-shirts, and other merchandise. And, for now, in one spot inside the Tender Loving Empire shop in Concourse E, near Gate E5.
So as a gift to the fans of the old PDX Carpet, when the new main terminal opens in 2024 several areas in the pre-security area will sport newly woven carpet with the old, iconic design.
You can read the story we wrote about the carpet comeback for The Points Guy site. But we want to also celebrate and remember cool carpets at other airports around the country. Most should still be underfoot. But keep in mind that many have been doing renovations and updates during the pandemic and may have new patterns now.
If we missed your airport, or if your airport has a new pattern, please let us know and we’ll add/update.
Ocean-inspired carpeting at Orlando International Airport – MCO
Guitar impressions at Nashville International Airport (BNA)
Airplanes in the carpeting at Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport (now blue)
Aerial view of the Sacramento Delta in the carpet at Sacramento International Airport (SMF).
Portlanders loved the PDX carpet. But it was old and worn and had to be replaced.
Now a large scale artwork celebrating that carpet is up for auction.
People loved taking pictures of their feet on that carpet.
The pattern showed up on caps, cups, neck pillows, jam, beer and all sorts of other items.
And, in 2015, not long after the Port of Portland announced it would be replacing all the carpeting in the airport, the carpet (yes the carpet) was named the Grand Marshal of Portland’s Rose Parade.
Now the large-scale carpet-centric artwork titled “Carpet Diem” by local artist Nancy Wilkins that was commissioned by the airport and which has hung on Concourse ‘D’ at PDX since 2014 is being replaced as well.
The artwork is being surplused and is now up for auction.
Last we looked the highest bid was only $110!
Take a look and see if you’d like to own this homage to a quirky carpet, and if you’ve got room for it in your home, office, bowling alley or airplane hangar.
To mark the day – and with a nod to PDX carpet that became a national celebrity – Portland International Airport and Orlando International Airport did a carpet exchange.
Here’s how it went down on Twitter.
For today's inaugural to Portland, we made this paper airplane from MCO carpet for our pals @flypdx. The 1️⃣st ever airport carpet exchange. pic.twitter.com/teQuKaJEjK
