Philadelphia is famous for cheesesteak sandwiches. And Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is marking National Cheesesteak Day, March 24, with a full week of cheesesteak events and specials in the terminals.
From Monday, March 24, through Sunday, March 30, passengers traveling through the airport will find exclusive offers, cheesesteak-inspired events and, of course, Philadelphia cheesesteaks.
Passengers will find free events 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the connector space between Terminals B and C.
Look for free samples of Pepsi Zero and Frito Lay, entertainment, a photo booth and assorted giveaways as well as a Cheesesteak Topping Bars (from noon to 1 p.m.) at Chickie & Pete’s, Cibo Bistro & Wine Bar and Passyunk Steaks.
From Monday, March 24 to Friday, March 28, use code PHLSTEAK to get 25% off one order at participating locations offering online mobile ordering through OrderAtPHL. (That code should work whether or not you’re ordering a cheesesteak.)
Weeklong Specialty Cheesesteak Creations & Meal Deals — March 24 to 30
Multiple PHL restaurants are serving up specialty cheesesteaks, including:
Bud & Marilyn’s: Shawarma cheesesteak — shawarma-spiced, marinated sliced ribeye steak on pita bread from Angel Bakeries, served with a cherry pepper tzatziki sauce
Chickie’s & Pete’s: Salmon cheesesteak with leaf lettuce, American cheese and mild pico de gallo
Passyunk Steaks: Salmon cheesesteak with spinach, red onions, roasted red peppers, and spicy mayo and lemon pepper cheesesteak — chopped prime ribeye steak with cheese, seasoned with lemon pepper
Tagliare: Pizza cheesesteak — sliced prime ribeye steak chopped with marinara sauce and mozzarella
Not passing through PHL airport during Cheesesteak Week? Don’t worry. You’ll find cheesesteaks and cheesesteak-inspired bits at these PHL food outlets year-round.
Bar Symon: Cheesesteak — sautéed, with provolone, mushrooms and onions
Chickie’s & Pete’s: Cheesesteak eggrolls, cheesesteak nachos and more
Geno’s Steaks: Pizza, mushroom and regular cheesesteak
Jack Duggan’s Pub & Restaurant: Cheesesteak eggrolls, chicken cheesesteak and more
Jim’s South St.: Chicken cheesesteak, veggie cheesesteak and more
Local Tavern: Classic cheesesteak
LOVE Grille: Beef, chicken and cauliflower cheesesteak
Noobar: Philly cheesesteak dumplings
Passyunk Steaks: Various cheesesteaks (onion, pizza, veggie and more)
Philly Pretzel Factory: Cheesesteak Rivets
Sabrina’s Cafe: Veggie Philly cheesesteak — seitan with sautéed onions and long hots
Subway: Philly and classic cheesesteak
Tony Luke’s: Various cheesesteaks (beef, chicken, veggie and more)
This is a slightly different version of a story we wrote for NBC News
If construction cranes are looming over your local airport or “Please Pardon Our Appearance” signs are decking out the terminal, it may be partly thanks to Congress and the White House.
U.S. airports say money from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a drop in the bucket when it comes to their funding sources and infrastructure needs. But the legislation is already helping some rip up worn carpets, upgrade restrooms and replace clunky baggage systems.
While federal dollars have long backed “airside” projects like runways and taxiways, the new infusion for terminal upgrades “is a game changer,” said Greg Cota, senior vice president of government and political affairs at the Airports Council International — North America, an industry advocacy group.
As President Joe Biden hits the campaign trail touting his broad infrastructure investments, airports are some of the most visible places to see them at work, whether or not voters reward him for it in November.
Appleton International Airport, in the battleground state of Wisconsin, received $3.43 million from the package. The funds will augment a much larger $66 million concourse expansion, which was planned before the pandemic and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025. Appleton, about 40 minutes southwest of Green Bay, is one of many airports that broke passenger records last year and it expects to serve 1 million travelers this year.
Financing is coming “from about eight different sources,” said airport Director Abe Weber, including local, state and federal money, bonds and the airport’s own cash. The grant awarded by the Biden administration will help pay for boarding bridges, a sustainability program that includes a microgrid and accessibility improvements such as “hearing loops” — assistive technology for people with hearing loss.
Without those funds, Weber said, “we probably wouldn’t have been able to proceed with those pieces of the project.”
Grants for many airports
Last month, the White House announced infrastructure law grants totaling $970 million for upgrades at 114 airports intended to “improve passenger experience, accessibility, and sustainability.” The discretionary awards are on top of nearly $2 billion in similar awards made over the past two years under the law’s Airport Terminal Program, a $5 billion fund for competitive grants to support terminal upgrades.
Recent grants include $35 million to help Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia construct a 14-gate terminal and transit connections to the Aerotrain and Metrorail. Another grant supplies $26 million to replace Denver International Airport’s baggage handling system.
The terminal funding is just one slice of the measure’s five-year, $25 billion pot for modernizing airports nationwide. Within that pool, a separate $5 billion is set aside for improvements to facilities and equipment owned by the Federal Aviation Administration, and $15 billion more is being distributed to airports through a formula based on passenger numbers.
Airports say they need much more.
“There’s a lot of money out there, and Congress has been generous,” said Kevin Burke, president and CEO of the North American Airports Council, who added that the government’s prioritizing the passenger experience is novel. “But it’s not enough to be able to solve the long-term problem,” he said, “which is enough infrastructure money to be able to modernize all of our airports.”
In a report last year, the group called for $151 billion to fund “critical” infrastructure improvements over the next five years. Airports typically pay for upgrades with a mélange of rent from airlines and terminal vendors, landing charges tacked on to fliers’ tickets, parking fees and money from various levels of government, as well loans and debt, often in the form of municipal bonds issued by airport authorities.
The new federal infrastructure funds could have an impact broader than the individual projects it’s supporting, some experts said.
Because airports operate in tandem with one another, improvements at small and midsize ones can help large hubs, too, said Bill Wyatt, executive director of Salt Lake City International Airport. The Utah airport received $20 million in infrastructure law funds toward its $618.7 million building and airfield work tied to the further expansion of a just-built terminal.
While “it’s great whenever you can find some additional resources,” Wyatt said, a boost to one airport’s operations can be felt across the network, “because suddenly one location now has added capacity, meaning we may get an extra flight that couldn’t have happened except for the investment of this money.”
The funding influx may have its biggest impact at smaller airports, where “these grants do play an important role in moving capital programs further and faster,” said Earl Heffintrayer, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service.
South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach International Airport, which serves more than 3 million passengers a year, received $10 million in Airport Terminal Program funds for an $80 million to $90 million expansion that was put on hold during the pandemic but is moving forward now. The 18-month project, which begins in June, will add six gates to the current 12 and revamp restrooms, flooring and signage in the existing terminal.
As at other airports, the Myrtle Beach construction is being financed by various sources, including “cost recovery through billing back portions of the project to airlines operating at MYR over the life of the expanded facility,” spokesman Ryan Betcher said. The $10 million grant will allow the airport to reduce the costs it passes on to airlines, help it retain existing flight routes and attract new ones, he said.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law dollars are also helping some airports keep their projects on track despite higher costs from inflation.
Philadelphia International Airport is in the midst of a $1.8 billion capital program that includes upgrades to roadways, terminals and the airfield. It secured $74.4 million from the infrastructure package for initiatives that fit the “shovel ready” requirements for funding, Chief Development Officer Api Appulingam said.
“It’s not that we wouldn’t have somehow found the funds to do the project,” she said, “but the grants help with the uncertainty in the bidding environment.” Now, if bids come in higher than anticipated, “we’re able to cover the cost, versus trying to find that funding elsewhere” and risk falling behind schedule, Appulingam said.
Like you, airports around the country are getting ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
And a couple of our favorite airports have already shared a bit about what they have planned for their favorite passengers.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) customer service staff will be handing out airport-themed Valentines and branded chocolate kisses at the airport information booths and in the Central Terminal. Look for a photo booth and keep an ear out for the roving violinist.
And over at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), Volunteer Navigators will be handing out 2,000 red carnations on Valentine’s Day starting at 10 am.
For those who need a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift, Lily Palmer Flowers and Gifts, located in PHL’s B/C Connector, will have two pop-up shops selling flowers and goodies. One shop will be near the Terminal B exit and another at the top of Terminal E.
And, as we shared earlier, there will be a temporary Marriage License Bureau set up at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas.
The Stuck at the Airport romance team is gathering up Valentine’s Day activities planned for other airports, so stay tuned.
The arts and exhibitions program at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and, after 425 temporary exhibits and artist demonstrations, one of the first airport arts programs is still going strong.
Over the years, the exhibits have featured a variety of media including painting, photography, printmaking, wood working, ceramics, glass, and found objects such as a 20-foot clock made of hundreds of empty Yuengling beer bottles
The current exhibit in Terminal A-East features a montage of Philadelphia’s 67 Historic Landmarks, recognizing the city’s designation as the nation’s first World Heritage City by the International Organization of World Heritage Cities.
Other exhibits in the terminals today include Christine Larsen’s Farewell to Night, a 100-footlong illustration of an imagined landscape where mystical characters celebrate the coming of morning and Custom Bikes, which showcases hand-made bicycles from 5 different local bike shops.
The Exhibitions Program was founded by PHL Director of Image and Chief Curator Leah Douglas, who was kind enough to answer a couple of questions about the program via email:
What have been some of the challenges and successes of the art program during these 20 years?
“Twenty years ago there were few airport art programs to emulate so it takes time to model a program that works best for your airport, city, and region. Now passengers and employees are familiar with rotating art programs in airports and it something that they look forward to seeing. The program has evolved into one of the area’s prized locations to exhibit because of the quality of our presentations and the quality and variety of the work that we show–in addition to the massive exposure with 82,000 passengers flying through PHL every day.”
What are some the most memorable exhibitions for you to put together?
“It’s always the next exhibition that I am looking forward to most and in particular, it is one that I am curating for this anniversary–It’s A Wrap: 20 for 20. This exhibition has to be the first-ever for an airport: Twenty artists are invited to create interventions on existing architectural elements and furnishings. Several artists will crochet over top columns and rockers; 6 artists have been given ceiling tiles to paint on; 1 artist will apply colored tape in patterns along the glass of the moving walkway; and another artist will paint directly on 2 cement columns.”
Find more information about past, present and future exhibitions at Philadelphia International Airport here.
Attendees at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia later this month will be welcomed at Philadelphia International Airport with a soundtrack featuring Philadelphia-made hits and an exhibition of political pins.
The soundtrack, playing now, features the “Sound of Philadelphia,” a series of songs from Philadelphia’s Grammy award-winning producers and songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff that became hits for artists such as Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, the O’Jays Patti LaBelle, the Stylistics and many others.
Gamble and Huff’s well-known songs being heard on the audio system throughout the terminals include I Love Music by the O’Jays, The Love I Lost and If You Don’t Know Me By Now by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Me and Mrs. Jones by Billy Paul, Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now by McFadden and Whitehead, Rubberband Man by the Spinners, and Don’t Leave Me This Way by Thelma Houston.
The exhibition of political pins – post-security in Terminal B – is from the collection of Philadelphian Alfio J. Brindisi, who has been collecting American political memorabilia for nearly 50 years.
