Portland International Airport

At airports: a giant flamingo, doodles, & Disney salute

Art, , , , ,

Some birds are welcome at airports

Their giant flamingo public artwork won’t arrive until 2022, but the folks at Tampa International Airport (TPA) are clearly very excited. We can’t blame them. This bird looks like it will be a stunner.

PDX offering prizes for doodles

Sasquatch and Chill By Vanessa Soberanis

There’s a lot of construction going on at Portland International Airport (PDX) and airport officials are being very creative with the signage in the terminal while all the work is going on.

Through October 8, 2021, PDX is inviting the public to create and upload Northwest-inspired PDX doodle-art that might someday be displayed at the airport. Everyone is welcome to vote on their favorite doodles. The designs that get the most votes will be featured on digital monitors at the airport and on PDX social media, and show up on custom t-shirts. The winning artists will get coveted PDX swag and gift cards from PDX shops and restaurants.

Orlando Int’l Airport celebrates a Disney anniversary

Walt Disney World Resort is turning 50 and Orlando International Airport (MCO) is joining in on the celebrations with special decorations in the terminal train stations, banners, decals, and floor projections. Our favorite: a giant 50th Anniversary tea cup and themed backdrop perfect for photo ops.

Travel Tidbits

family travel, , ,

Here are some of the attractions and news announcements we’re reading about this week.

A Masterpiece Moment in a Museum

During the pandemic, we discovered Bank of America’s Masterpiece Moment digital series. The videos celebrate great works of art from museums across the United States.

Each video, hosted by a leading museum director, shares insights and commentary on a piece they have selected from their collection. Here’s the latest:

Sky Squad Lands at BWI Airport

SkySquad is a travel tech company that arranges for a ‘helping hand’ at airports. The service is designed to offer assistance to families, seniors, pet owners, or anyone who needs some help navigating the travel experience, and now travelers at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) can book it.

With fees starting at $49, the concierge-style service provides assistants who can greet customers at their car door to help them unload luggage and then guide them through the check-in and checkpoint process and out to the gate.

Sound like something you or someone you know could use? SkySquad is also available at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Airport (CVG). Next up: Ft Lauderdale.

New PDX Coloring Book

There’s a lot of construction going on at Portland International Airport (PDX) right now, which can add an extra layer of stress to anyone’s journey.

To make getting through PDX easier and more fun – especially for families with kids – PDX has put together a new coloring book with whimsical characters and some fun facts about the airport.

The text is in English and Spanish, and each booklet has images that match larger counterparts on the walls and on the giant post-it notes throughout the terminal.

We’re making this an early nomination for “Airport Amenity of the Week.”

PDX Airport’s Construction Comic

Art, ,

Here’s a great idea.

There’s a lot of construction going on at Portland International Airport (PDX) right now. And lots of detours in the terminal for travelers.

So the airport with its own movie theater is getting arty and using a comic to spread the word about what’s going on.

Oregon-based artist Aki Ruiz teamed up with writer JD Shadel for this project, which tells the story of a young man and his service dog making their way through the airport and learning about the changes in store.

Great idea! And great job!

We’re declaring this the Airport Amenity of the Week.

What’s up at Portland International Airport?

Airport Terminals,

Our first post-pandemic road trip takes us to Oregon, starting at – where else – Portland International Airport (PDX).

The airport is getting a new main terminal and we stopped in to get an “in-progress” view and to learn about what it will take to make the project happen.

Here are some snaps of what the terminal looks like now.

Sadly, one of our favorite features of PDX, the pre-security shopping street with branches of many local favorites, is gone and not coming back. But many of these shops still have post-security outlets, and additional local shops are opening now, with more on the way.

Outside, things look pretty torn up too. But we were assured that the construction is not getting in the way of flight schedules. No small feat!

Here’s are some renderings of what the new terminal will look like. And below, a recent PDX tweet with a video of what we’ll see inside the new terminal. It looks like it will be pretty snazzy, pretty Portland, and very northwest.

Airports celebrate mittens, Peeps, new terminals, and the Super Bowl match-up

Airport Terminals, , , , , , , ,

We spent the weekend gathering up as many social media postings we could find that featured airport-themed images of Bernie Sanders and his mittens.

If you missed that, or want to see what we can up with, find the Stuck at the Airport #BernieMittens meme archive here.

You may have also missed our Airport Amenity of the Week. Some weeks we have a lot of airport amenities in the running. Last week, this table full of free Peeps at Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) in Allentown, PA was hands down the winner.

If you have a cool new airport amenity to nominate during this week, let us know.

We were also heartened to see some airports posting previews of future terminals. Thank-you Portland International Airport (PDX) and Nashville International Airport (BNA) for giving us some new spaces to look forward to.

And Tampa International Airport (TPA) and Kansas City International Airport (KCI) are very excited about the teams that will be playing in the Super Bowl this year.