The Kentucky Derby will take place on schedule this year on Saturday, May 1 and Louisville Muhammad International Airport (SDF) is decked out and ready to welcome Derby guests with lots of fresh roses.
The @kroger floral team used approximately 250 fresh cut roses in each of the eight urns that line the SDF terminal connector to welcome Derby guests, with more than 2,200 roses throughout the facility. pic.twitter.com/bORyVO3kQP
The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will be available to the public tomorrow from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the 44th Street PHX Sky Train® Station. Schedule your appointment at https://t.co/KA1BjQEDAI. pic.twitter.com/LMku7Ty1SU
— Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (@PHXSkyHarbor) April 30, 2021
Airports everywhere are continuing their “keep clean things clean” campaigns. Touchless tech helps, and we see Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) just added touchess/wave-to-call elevator buttons.
It’s not ‘beam me up, Scotty,’ but we’re currently installing touchless/wave-to-call elevator buttons to reduce the spread of germs. Just point to the floor where you’re headed and be transported! It’s all part of a modern, more health-conscious airport. #SafeTravelspic.twitter.com/n7mTf1vUDH
— Pittsburgh International Airport (@PITairport) April 29, 2021
Places We’d Go… Cleveland
Cleveland is hosting the NFL Draft, with lots of bonus activities.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has a new exhibit celebrating the Super Bowl Halftime Show music and performers.
The Biggest Show on Turf: 55 Years of Halftime Showswill be on exhibit through September 21 and includes performance outfits, instruments, and set pieces, including Prince’s turquoise suit worn during his unforgettable purple-rained 2007 performance, where he asked production managers “Can you make it rain harder?” and Katy Perry’s beach-ball inspired costume and “Left Shark” that ignited a pop culture phenomenon after her 2015 performance.
Instead of the annoying buzzer and flashing light that announces the arrival of bags at some airports, the newly redesigned bag carousels at MSP airport send up the alert with nature sounds and a light show.
We’re making this the first nomination for Airport Amenity of the Week.
Feast your eyes on one of our newly redesigned baggage carousels!
Soothing nature sounds & a rippling light show announce that your bags are on the way. The design also offers more square footage and front-facing space — perfect for social distancing. #TravelConfidentlypic.twitter.com/OX4cP8r5gg
Our second nomination for Airport Amenity of the Week is this high-tech hand-washing station Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) installed to encourage travelers to wash their hands and “scrub away germs in 12 seconds flat!”
🎶You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out…🎶
As part of our #SafeTravels program, an airport first-of-its-kind high-tech hand washing station is being installed near our Landside train platform to scrub away germs in 12 seconds flat! pic.twitter.com/RNbeHoNCO8
Pete Buttigieg, who has been named transportation secretary nominee by President-elect Joe Biden, put a spotlight on O’Hare International Airport (ORD) during his formal introduction on Wednesday.
During the event, Buttigieg noted that he proposed to his husband, Chasten, at O’Hare. “Don’t let anybody tell you that O’Hare isn’t romantic,” he said.
Avgeeks know that.
So does United Airlines, which sent out a tweet identifying the engagement gate.
Whether or not you’re flying during the holidays, it pays to keep up to date with what airports are doing to serve passengers during what is sure to be another unusual season.
Here are some tidbits we’ve already spotted this week.
PIT has its holiday tree up
Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) won’t be having its annual Holiday Open House this year. And local choirs and bands won’t be offering holiday performances.
But PIT is setting up a holiday-themed selfie station in the Airside Center Core and hosting distanced (instrument-only) performances by local musicians. And there will be terminal visits from the PIT PAWS airport therapy dog team.
The holiday tree is already there. Here’s a fun time-lapse video of it going up. PIT reports that 20 people worked to raise the 26-foot-tall tree over a span of eight hours and that this year’s tree has 538 ornaments, 42 yards of fabric, and 166 strands of lights.
Take a 360 Virtual Tour of LAX
Missing airports? Us too. So we’re excited as all get out a new virtual 360-degree of the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) airfield.
This is the same airfield tour that used to be offered to students, community groups, and others curious about LAX operations before COVID-19 arrived. Now anyone can access the immersive, high-resolution 360-degree video experience online using a smartphone, tablet, computer, or VR headset.
Coat check reopens at MKE
If you’re flying from Milwaukee to Hawaii, Florida, or some other warm spot, you probably won’t need your winter coat when you arrive.
The Coat check program operates in partnership with retail partner Paradies Lagardère and is offered inside the Summerfest Marketplace store, which is located pre-security. Each coat is wrapped in protective plastic and the charge is a very reasonable $2 per day, or $10 per trip.
As far as we know, this is still the only U.S. airport offering this service.
Fresh art at PHX
Sky Curtain,” an artistic weather screen installation, is under construction at the future PHX Sky Train Rental Car Center Station. It features a series of brightly colored steel pipes, running along both sides of the station platform. Learn more on our Facebook page. pic.twitter.com/64c3n0IKUn
— Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (@PHXSkyHarbor) December 1, 2020
Fun and games from BWI
Here's a #TravelTuesday wordsearch highlighting some popular getaway spots of our passengers. 🧳
SAN Arts Program Fall Resident Artist, Margaret Noble, has released a new month’s of experiences based on the idea of a map. You are encourage to visit https://t.co/Tw7ajVqQrS to view them and ponder, “What are the points on your map? Where do you wish to go?” #SANArtspic.twitter.com/Xbi222QPvG
But we say it is a ‘this makes perfect sense’ amenity that is one part convenience and two parts sign of the social distance times.
Grab, the e-commerce platform for pre-ordering meals for pick-up from airport food outlets is partnering with AtYourGate, the in-airport food delivery service.
Passengers can order food through the Grab app, a special section of the PHL website, or scan Grab QR codes in the terminals. Merchants are searchable by food type and terminal. And orders can be delivered to wherever you are in the terminal.
Convenient, right?
Participating restaurants at PHL include Auntie Anne’s, Bar Symon, Bud & Marilyn’s, California Pizza Kitchen, Chickie’s & Pete’s, Dunkin’, Gachi, Geno’s Steaks, Jack Duggan’s, Jamba, Piattino Pizza, Smashburger, and Vino Volo.
More merchants will be added soon.
There is a small charge for delivery. But first-time users can use the promo code ‘RUSH’ to save 20% – up to $5 – off their first order.
Roving robots at PIT cuter than ever
In May 2020, Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) introduced its team of autonomous cleaning robots with ultraviolet (UV) light technology.
Since then, other U.S. airports have rolled out cleaning robots. But PIT was the first.
Now PIT is making the hard-working robots even more endearing by giving them eyes.
The robots also have names:
Amelia is named for Amelia Earhart, the famed pilot and female aviation trailblazer.
Orville and Wilbur are named after the Wright brothers.
And the fourth PIT robot is named Rosa. She’s named after Rosa Mae Willis Alford, the sole female mechanic to work on the planes of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.
Travel to a scary galaxy
In the spirit of the Halloween season and the scary, bizarro times, we’re printing out frameable copies of these science-inspired Galaxy of Horrors “travel” posters from NASA’s Exoplanet Travel Bureau.
The posters look like vintage horror movie advertisements, but they are really out of this world.
Gamma -Ray-Ghouls features a “dead” galaxy. Galactic Graveyard is inspired by an explosive gamma-ray burst caused by colliding stellar corpses. And the third, Dark Matter, is a voyage to the unknown via ever-elusive dark matter.
The posters are free to download and are produced by NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Office, which is located at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
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.
Airports Council International now estimates a drop of more than 4.6 billion passengers globally for all of 2020.
The airport trade group also estimates that total airport revenues worldwide will drop by more than $97 billion for 2020.
Still, airports are making plans for welcoming back travelers.
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life and we’re prepared for it. Next time you’re passing by, you’ll notice some changes in our facilities and signage in order to provide a healthy and safe environment to all of our customers.
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) May 6, 2020
Orlando International Airport (MCO) says passengers will see new social distancing signs and markers through the airport terminal. Acrylic protective screens are being installed at ticket counters and at retail food and outlets as well. Cleaning crews are also out in force. And passengers are being urged to wear face masks in the airport.
As the COVID-19 crisis continues, airlines are grounding aircraft and cutting flight schedules. And fewer and fewer travelers are passing through airports.
But in most cities airports are considered essential facilities. So they remain open.
One example: Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), which must stay open not only for the remaining commercial flights currently flying, but because it is home to two military bases: U.S. Air Force and Pennsylvania National Guard.
Anyone passing through PIT airport right now will find it quieter than usual.
But they might notice something different in the art installation known as “Fraley’s Robot Repair.”
Toby Fraley/Blue Sky PIT
Atticus Fraley created this storefront robot repair shop and sometimes makes changes to the items inside.
His most recent addition was to give a robot a hand-lettered sign with an inspirational message for this stressful time:
We take a short break from coronavirus coverage and anxiety today to give a cheer for Pittsburgh International Airport, which is celebrating Women’s History Month by putting a statue of legendary traveler and early investigative journalist Nellie Bly in the terminal.
Bly, the pen name for Elizabeth Seaman Cochran, grew up in Western Pennsylvania and in 1885 went to work for the Pittsburgh Dispatch, which is now the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She moved to New York City in 1887 to work for the New York World and wrote a groundbreaking expose of the terrible conditions at a mental institution by posing as a patient.
In 1889 she set off
for a trip about the world, determined to break the fictional record of Phileas
Fogg, whose journey was described by Jules Verne in his 1873 novel, “Around the
World in Eighty Days.”
Bly left Hoboken, New Jersey by ship and completed the trip in 72 days, 6 hours 11 minutes and 14 seconds, traveling by horse, rickshaw, sampan, burro and other vehicles along the way.
Courtesy University of Iowa Libraries“Round the World” board game. Courtesy University of Iowa Libraries.
Her 1890 book chronicling the adventure is “Around the World in Seventy-Two Days.”
Pittsburgh International Airport already
has two statues in the terminal: George Washington and Franco Harris, a legendary
Pittsburgh Steelers player.
On #PresidentsDay, we’d like to wish our good friend George Washington a happy early 288th birthday. Though at PIT, George doesn’t look a day over 22! pic.twitter.com/7HBkCINizJ
Statue of Franco Harris and the Immaculate Reception at Pittsburgh International Airport courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at Heinz @HistoryCenter#LovePGHpic.twitter.com/Szq9EcqBg5
Those statues are stationed in the PIT terminal as promotions for the city’s Heinz History Center and are popular spots for selfies.
At the end of March, to mark Women’s History Month and the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, the Heinz History Center will add Nellie Bly’s statue to the PIT terminal.
The pilot DTW Destination Pass program
at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) which allows non-ticketed
passengers past the security checkpoint began in October and was supposed to
end this week.
But so many non-ticketed visitors are
interested in visiting DTW airport to shop, dine, check out airplanes and spend
more time with friends and family starting or ending their travels that airport
officials have decided to keep the program going indefinitely.
“We understand that our facility is more than
just an airport—it is a place where memories are made,” said WCAA CEO Chad
Newton, “One participant of the program shared with us that she was able to
bring her 3-year-old nephew to the airport to greet his parents and see
airplanes for the first time.”
The DTW Destination Pass program is limited to 75 visitor passes per day. Passes can be used from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Check the DTW website for details about applying for a pass.
Where else can you get an airport gate pass?
DTW is just the latest airport to welcome non-ticketed passengers past the security checkpoint.
Art at SEA airport
In December, Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport (SEA) brought back and made permanent the SEA Visitor Pass program, which
gives non-ticketed guests access to the secure side of the airport.
Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) started
the trend by introducing the myPITPass program in
August 2017. That program operates Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tampa International Airport (TPA) began
offering its All Access pass in April, 2019, welcoming guests on
Saturdays.
Photo La Gourmetreise, Courtesy New Orleans & Company
And Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) began welcoming non-ticketed guests into the new terminal on December 4.
The MSY Guest Pass is offered seven days a week, with a limit of 50 visitors Monday through Friday and 100 visitors on Saturdays and Sundays.
