Tampa International Airport (TPA) has a giant flamingo greeting travelers in the main terminal year round. During this holiday season the airport also has free movies.
On December 6, the holiday favorite “The Grinch” will be shown and on December 13 the “Elf” with Will Ferrell and James Caan will be shown for free in TPA’s pre-security Main Terminal Event Space on Level 3 between the shuttles for Airsides E and F.
The space will open at 4 p.m. and the movies will begin at 4:30 p.m. As a bonus, TPA will also provide free popcorn for moviegoers.
Back in 2019, Tampa International Airport (TPA) was one of the earliest airports to establish a program that allows non-flyers past security so they can shop, dine, meet arriving passengers or go with a traveler to the gate.
And like other airports with gate pass programs, TPA put that program on hold during the pandemic.
Many other airports have already brought back their gate pass programs or rolled out new programs.
TPA has been a holdout. But their gate pass program returned on November 3, 2025.
We shared information a few days ago about how Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and others are joining with community groups to offer food and other support to TSA officers, air traffic controllers and other federal workers who aren’t getting paychecks during the government shutdown but are still expected to show up for work at airports.
Now more airports are joining the list.
Tampa International Airport (TPA) is working with United Way Suncoast and Feeding Tampa Bay to gather resources for the airport’s approximately 1,100 federal employees from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Support includes a food pantry and assistance with childcare, utilities and transportation.
The assistance (called Operation Bald Eagle II) is set to begin next week to align with when those federal employees will start missing money out of their paycheck, the airport told us. Two weeks later, they would miss their first full paycheck should the government shutdown continue.
And Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) announced today that it is partnering with local social service groups, the Children’s Cabinet and the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, to assist federal workers working without pay, including TSA, Customs and Border Protection and Federal Aviation Administration staff.
An assigned rep from the Children’s Cabinet will help provide affected federal employees (those with children or not) with resources such as food, diapers and household items. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada is making its pantry program and other food resources available to affected federal workers.
We’ll update this list as more information becomes available.
The sculpture is 21 feet tall and lives in TPA’s main terminal. The creation of artist Matthew Mazzota, the sculpture is officially titled “Home.” But thanks to a naming contest hosted by the airport last year, the big bird is now better known as Phoebe.
We finally got to meet Phoebe in person and have to say we are just wowed.
Aaron Stephan’s “Paths Rising,” in the Main Terminal walkway to SkyConnect Station, is composed of over 600 ladders set inside a light well and positioned to imply a portal to what lies beyond.
A clean public restroom can be a rare find when you’re in an airport, a restaurant, a theme park, a highway rest stop, a museum, or a mall.
It can be even more difficult to find a clean public restroom that also has some character, wit, and charm.
That’s why the Stuck at the Airport team of restroom reviewers always pays attention to the list of finalists in the annual America’s Best Restroom contest.
In 2022, Tampa International Airport (TPA) took the throne for a new set of Airside C restrooms featuring high-res images of quintessential Florida flora.
2023 List of Finalists for America’s Best Restroom
New restrooms at BWI feature an entrance with a seating area for travelers to wait for their companions. Inside, the restrooms have bright, spacious, fully enclosed stalls for privacy, touchless fixtures and individual lactation, adult changing, and family assist rooms.
Here is a list of the other 9 public restrooms in the running for the 2023 America’s Best Restroom Contest.
In addition to quick-moving security lines, and tasty things to eat and drink, clean restrooms with short waiting lines top most travelers’ wish lists for airport amenities.
And airports are responding by flushing out old, tired restroom designs and bringing in bathrooms that are bright, high-tech, art-filled, and new.
The latest to do so is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI).
Upgraded restrooms were included in a recent Concourse A expansion and there’s an ongoing $55 million program to expand and improve six sets of restrooms on Concourses B, C, and D.
The first set of improved restrooms on Concourse B is now open.
Inside these restrooms, you'll find spacious stalls with occupancy lights, touchless faucets and towel dispensers, an airfield view through privacy glass and much more. #MDOTinnovates#airportspic.twitter.com/LPmMLrC7Bm
The new set of restrooms now open on Concourse B is nearly 4,700 total square feet, with full-height stalls, space for stowing roller bags, surface materials that are easy to clean and sanitize, and improved ventilation.
The new restrooms also feature innovative technology such as occupancy lights for the stalls and sensors to inform custodial staff when supplies need to be refilled.
Updated Airport Restrooms Win Hearts – and Awards
Airports that give their restrooms modern makeovers not only win kudos from passengers, but some of the new loos also win awards.
In 2022, both Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Tampa International Airport (TPA) made the list of finalists for America’s Best Restroom Contest. And Tampa International Airport took the throne.
Not just some plants here and there. But more than 3,500 live plants, including vines, ornamentals, palms, tropical foliage, and seasonal plants. And they’re all looked after by a crew of 3 people who grow many of the plants in an airport greenhouse and care for and maintain all the plants year-round.
During April, and in honor of Earth Day (April 22), Tampa International Airport’s interior landscaping team is showing off their green thumbs and their artistic abilities in the “Living and Breathing Art Exhibit” on Level 3 of TPA’s Main Terminal.
“We just want people to notice plants more,” said Kristina Zakarkaite of the TPA Interior Landscaping team. “Plants are usually the backdrop for everything else, but when they’re front and center, people take notice.
The exhibit includes several framed “living paintings” made with air plants (see image up top), hardy plants creating mini-ecosystems on pieces of logs, ornamental plants grown using the Japanese art of Kokedama, which features a moss-covered ball of soil wrapped with string or fishing line, and more.
Look for the Tampa International Airport’s “Living and Breathing Art Exhibit” throughout April on Level 3 of the Main Terminal in the walkway between Airside A and C near the escalators to the SkyConnect station.
Love green airports? Tell us about the gardens and the greenery at your favorite airport.
One of the best art addition to an airport this past year is a 21-foot-tall flamingo in the main terminal at Tampa International Airport (TPA).
While the artwork by Mathew Mazzotta is named Home, the flamingo itself arrived nameless. So a few weeks back, Tampa International Airport invited the public to come up with some suggestions.
And, wow, they did.
The panel of judges was faced with more than 65,000 entries. And, after an initial delay, has now settled on three finalists: Cora, Finn, and Phoebe.
IT'S FINALLY TIME TO NAME THAT BIRD!!! After a panel of judges reviewed 65,000+ entries and the reasons behind them in our Name the Flamingo contest, three finalists have been selected. And those three names are…
Cora – Submitted by Glorianne P.: “Because the official name of the art piece is ‘Home’, we can expand on that and consider the phrase ‘Home is Where the Heart is.’ Cora is short for Corazon, which translates to heart in Spanish.“
Finn – Submitted by Braxton W.: “Finn the flamingo has the perfect ring to it. Every time I see a flamingo, it looks like they have fins on their feet that they forgot to take off. It always makes me laugh.”
Phoebe – Submitted by James M.: “A play on Phoenicopterus – the flamingo’s scientific name ‘Phoebe’ is also a playful alliterative to flamingo and means brilliantly inquisitive. The overall ‘Home’ sculpture is literally brilliant and reveals the flamingo’s inquisitiveness as it hunts for food in the shallows.”
Want to vote on the winner? You’d better hurry.
To vote for your favorite, go to NameTheFlamingo.com by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, January 2, 2023.
The winning name that receives the most votes will be revealed after January 2.
The flamingo’s prize will be a name. The person whose suggestion is chosen will be awarded a variety of prizes including roundtrip tickets for 4 on Silver Airways and a VIP Experience package for four to Busch Gardens.
Tampa International Airport (TPA) is hosting a contest to pick a name for the impossible-to-miss, 21-foot flamingo that now lives in the airport’s main terminal.
The artwork is by artist Matthew Mazzota and is officially titled “HOME.” But TPA would like the flamingo to have its own name. And they’ll give a nice prize to the person who proposes the best name for the big bird.
Along with christening TPA’s big pink bird, the contest winner will win 4 nonstop, roundtrip tickets for themselves and 3 companions on Silver Airways. The prize also includes a VIP Experience package to Busch Gardens, including 4 single-day admission tickets, 4 All Day-Dining passes, 4 Quick Queue Unlimited passes, and preferred parking.
Here’s how the contest works:
From Tuesday, November 29 until Tuesday, December 6, anyone may submit a suggestion for the flamingo’s name at www.NameTheFlamingo.com. One entry per person.
Contest participants will need to briefly explain on the online form why they chose the name they are submitting.
After the contest closes, TPA will select the top three names. And starting December 12, the public will be able to vote on their favorite name. The winning name will be revealed on Friday, December 16.
Have any great ideas? Something better than Spot or Freddy Flamingo?
Congratulations to Tampa International Airport (TPA), which takes the throne as the Winner of the 2022 America’s Best Restroom Contest.
The Airport’s sleek, modern, and newly renovated Airside C restrooms were among 10 finalists selected by Cintas Corporation based on cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality, and unique design elements.
The public had the opportunity to vote during the month of August. And the competition included restrooms at Delaware Botanic Gardens and Newark Liberty International Airport’s (EWR) all-gender restrooms.
TPA’s Airside C facilities were completed on the north side of the terminal earlier this year and will be finished on the south side in the coming weeks.
The restroom entrance welcomes travelers to a uniquely Florida experience. There are large graphics and a natural, deep blue stone with high-res images of quintessential Florida flora.
The loos also feature light-colored solid surface vanities. These counters incorporate TPA’s signature “cockpit” concept that provides guests with their own sensor-activating sink and soap, personal paper towel dispensers, and trash receptacles all within arm’s reach.
As part of its prize, TPA receives Cintas UltraCleanrestroom cleaning service and $2,500 in Cintas products and services. And in a nice touch, TPA airport will be donating these services and products to the Hurricane Ian recovery efforts taking place in southeast Florida.
Airports cleaned up in this contest in the past
America’s Best Restroom contest is highly competitive, but some airports have claimed the throne in the past.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) won in 2016 for the first of 100 sets of restrooms being updated. Among a wide variety of nice amenities, MSP’s upgraded loos feature a waiting area with flight information, emergency devices, and curated art display cases.
And Arkansas’ Fort Smith Regional Airport (FSM) landed the award in 2005, That loo got high marks for cleanliness and for its dried flower arrangements and automated toilets and sinks.
