Reno-Tahoe Interntional Airport

Share ORD memories for a $500 prize + Get rewards at RNO + Track Santa

Holidays, , ,

 

You could win $500 for sharing an O’Hare Airport memory

In October, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) celebrated its 70th anniversary of hosting commercial air service.

The airport has, of course, changed and grown a lot over the years. And now it’s looking forward to a major terminal expansion, dubbed ORDNext. On the agenda: two state-of-the-art satellite concourses, a new international terminal and an airport-wide underground tunnel for connections, among other projects.

But before it blasts off into the future, Chicago’s Department of Aviation is hosting an “O’Hare Moments” Campaign and Sweepstakes.

Through February 2, 2026, ORD is asking the public to share photos and special memories they have from their travels through O’Hare during the past 70 years.

We’re thinking: special milestones, family reunions, chance meetings, farewells, eventful layovers, love stories, etc.

At the end of the campaign, one entry will be chosen at random to receive a $500 gift card.

Enter the O’Hare Moments sweepstakes here. And feel free to share your story with us here too.

Reno-Tahoe Int’l Airport’s Curbside Kindness Campaign

Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) is revving up its Curbside Kindness team for the holidays.

Team members will be surprising drivers dropping off passengers with small tokens of appreciation, including gift cards and other surprises.

The campaign not only spreads some extra holiday cheer but also encourages travelers to catch a ride to the airport and free up space in the parking garage and surface lot during peak travel days. 

Another kindness: NORAD Tracks Santa

Kids of all ages can follow Santa’s journey around the globe starting on Christmas Eve, thanks to the folks at NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a US-Canadian joint effort.

NORAD’s main job is to monitor and defend North American airspace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. But on December 24, the agency has a special added mission to track Santa Claus as he and his reindeers fly around the world to deliver presents to children.

Anyone can follow along on the Santa Cam.

This is the 70th year NORAD is filling this role. Kids can call to ask live operators about Santa’s location (1-877-HI-NORAD/1-877-446-6723) or call via the Norad Tracks Santa website.

Fresh art at Reno-Taho International Airport

Art

Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) is celebrating the grand opening of its newly expanded Ticketing Hall.

Sadly, the new ticketing hall does not bring us the pneumatic “Travel Tubes” teased on April 1 that would allow passengers to go whiz straight from the airport lobby to the gate.

But travelers will benefit from 10,000 square feet of new ticketing lobby space and the airport’s first, site-specific public art commission.

The Ticketing Hall expansion is part of RNO’s “MoreRNO” infrastructure program, which promises a ‘new era’ for the airport and more than $1 billion in targeted improvements.

RNO’s new public art is a 450-foot-long piece by Dixie Friend Gay titled “Repeated Refrains.”

It will be hard to miss there on the wall behind the airline ticket counters.

The work references northern Nevada’s diverse environment, which includes forested mountains, vegetation-covered hillsides and desert valleys. It is divided into four sections, each dedicated to a different season and portraying the colors and diverse ecosystems that can be found within a 100-mile radius of Reno.

Reno-Tahoe Airport & the Burners

Airports, Festivals, ,

RNO's 15-foot Mini-Man is a replica of the giant sculpture burned each year during the Burnning Man festival.

The 70,000 “Burners” who attended last week’s Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada have to go back to their regular lives now and about 22,000 of them re-entered the real world via Reno-Tahoe International Airport on Monday on Tuesday.

Some of the more than 22,000 Burners heading home from the 2015 Burning Man festival via Reno-Tahoe International Airport

That makes this week one of the busiest times for RNO airport and a week filled with unusual challenges.

“There are lines of travelers with large, dusty bags and unique items like hula hoops being carried onto airplanes,” said RNO spokeswoman Heidi Jared, who explained that airlines were wrapping each piece of luggage in plastic to keep the conveyor belt system clean from the fine playa dust that can bog down the belt.

Because Burning Man operates with a strict “leave no trace” policy, many Burners ended up bringing their garbage with them to the airport. “So RNO puts out extra trash bins on the front curb to collect a variety of items that Burners simply don’t want or don’t have room to take on the plane,” said Jared. 

Large boxes are set up at RNO airport to collect tons of trash and unwanted items Burners will leave behind_edited

Bicycles are the main method of transportation during the Burning Man festival and while many Burners put a lot of effort into decorating their bikes, they don’t plan to bring them home.

In the past, many bikes ended up left behind at the airport, but now the local Kiwanis club sets up a bike drop-off area at RNO to collect the cast-off cycles. The club then refurbishes the bikes and gives them to kids in the community.

The local Kiwanis club has a drop-off station to collected unwanted bikes used at the Burning Man festival. Bikes will be refurbished and given to local children

( My story about Reno Airport and the Burners first appeared on the Today in the Sky blog on USA TODAY in a slightly different version. All photos courtesy Reno-Tahoe International Airport)