WINTER 2 012
BLUEPRINT
BLUE
A PORT OF SEATTLE PUBLICATION
ABOUT CONSTRUCTION, OPERATIONS
AND ACTIVITIES AT SEATTLE-TACOMA
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
SEA-TAC WELCOMES
BOEING 747-8
FREIGHTER
T
he Port of Seattle and Cargolux
recently celebrated the arrival and
debut loading of the first Boeing
747-8 Freighter at Sea-Tac Airport.
S
CONSTRUCTION
UPDATE
ea-Tac Airport continues to find
new ways to polish its image as
a world-class international facility.
Following is a roundup of some current
projects expected to contribute to an
extraordinary customer experience at
our airport.
ESCALATOR MODERNIZATION
Pardon our construction barricades
and temporary inconvenience, but rest
assured the escalator modernization
project at Sea-Tac has a silver lining.
Moving about the airport will become
more energy and cost efficient due to
the upgrade of more than half of SeaTac’s 79 escalators, some nearly 40 years
old. The Port of Seattle will replace 42 of
them and install two new ones to serve
travelers better, cut energy costs by 20
percent, and save a quarter of a million
dollars in annual repair costs.
Workers will replace escalators in
the main terminal, concourse B and the
south satellite, and add two new ones
in the south satellite to handle forecast
growth in passenger volume. The
construction began this past summer
and is being spread out over two years
to help minimize passenger disruption.
The first phase focused on escalators
at skybridges 2 and 4, followed by
skybridges 3 and 5.
Continued on page 3
New freighter holds 16 percent more cargo.
This aircraft is the new high-capacity
747 that is claimed to give cargo
operators the lowest operating costs
and best economics of any freighter
airplane while providing enhanced
environmental performance. It is 250
feet, 2 inches long, which is 18 feet
and 4 inches longer than the 747-400
Freighter. The stretch provides 16
percent more revenue cargo volume
compared to its predecessor.
Cargolux is one of the longestserving cargo carriers at Sea-Tac, dating
back to 1983.
Employees of escalator manufacturer KONE Corporation hoist the truss for a new escalator into place near
skybridge 4. KONE, a subcontractor under Turner Construction for this project, is installing Sea-Tac’s new
escalator equipment. -Photo by Don Wilson
THE JOURNEY BEGINS HERE
PORT ENDS YEAR
OF CELEBRATION
BY LAUNCHING
NEW TOOLS
T
Icelandair announced plans to fly daily
from Sea-Tac Airport to Reykjavik starting in
mid-May 2012. During a summer schedule
set to run through October, Icelandair will
provide daily service to its hub in Reykjavik
with more than 20 convenient connections
to cities in Scandinavia and Europe,
including Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm
and Helsinki. Passengers arriving from
Europe will be able to connect at Sea-Tac
through its codeshare partner Alaska
Airlines to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland,
Spokane, San Francisco and other cities in
the western region.
Icelandair inaugurated service to Sea-Tac in
July 2009 with service four times per week,
adding a weekly flight each year to the
current level of six times a week. Its winter
schedule will remain six times a week.
Delta Air Lines recently opened the new
Delta Sky Club at Sea-Tac Airport, available
to paid members and certain ticket holders.
Located in a new 8,300- square-foot
penthouse on top of the south satellite, this
new facility has a full wall of windows with
a view of Mount Rainier. Artwork features
aerial landscapes of the region and glass.
Amenities include updated restrooms,
showers, free Wi-Fi, cyber counters,
desktop computers and wireless printers.
In the past year, Delta unveiled nine
renovated or new clubs across its network.
The airline upgraded its facilities at Sea-Tac
after merging with Northwest Airlines and
increasing overseas flights from Sea-Tac.
Capital Building Maintenance employee
at Sea-Tac Michael Bulling received a
national award by being named the 2011
Kenneth Shaw Graduate of the Year from
Goodwill Industries International for
his determination to find work and gain
skills despite physical challenges. Bulling,
a Tacoma Goodwill program graduate,
received the Graduate of the Year award
from Tacoma Goodwill in 2010. He has
worked at the airport for about four years.
he Port of Seattle capped off its
centennial year, 2011, in a number
of ways. One is a list of goals for the
future, the result of a strategic planning
effort called the “Century Agenda” that
began in 2008. The Century Agenda
is a comprehensive vision for the next
quarter century of the port’s business
and operations.
Early in 2011, the Port Commission
formed the Century Agenda Committee
to identify goals and begin planning
around topics ranging from creating
economic opportunity to achieving
community values to moving cargo
and people. During much of 2011, the
Commission hosted monthly public
roundtable discussions on strategic
issues with experts on each topic
area. At the final roundtable in late
2011, commissioners and panelists
discussed funding the port’s strategic
goals. For videos and summaries of the
Century Agenda roundtables, visit the
Commission section on the port website
at www.portseattle.org.
Next, the Century Agenda Committee
plans to review goals from all previous
panels, share a draft Century Agenda
with the public in early 2012, and adopt
a final plan in mid-2012.
NEW WEB PRESENCE
Finding information about Sea-Tac
Airport and the Port of Seattle is faster
and easier on the port’s new website at
www.portseattle.org, re-engineered
to provide intuitive navigation,
streamlined design and a better overall
web experience.
The upgraded site features up-to-theminute flight information, a vivid new
photo gallery, instant drop-down menus,
and slide shows and videos. Details about
favorite topics such as the airport, cruise
activities, marinas, parks and attractions
are consolidated under one easy-to-find
tab called Travel and Recreation. There
also is a mobile version.
CENTENNIAL KEEPSAKE
The port is offering a keepsake
book available from online retailers.
Rising Tides and Tailwinds: The Story
of the Port of Seattle, 1911-2011 was
published in association with History
Ink/HistoryLink and the University of
Washington Press. Copies are available
at indiebound.org, amazon.com and
barnesandnoble.com.
SEA-TAC TO WELCOME EMIRATES AIRLINE
T
he Port of Seattle welcomes a new
era in access to the world with the
announcement Emirates Airline
will begin daily non-stop service from
Sea-Tac Airport to Dubai, United Arab
Emirates, in March 2012.
As the world’s largest international
carrier and fastest growing airline,
Emirates connects to more than 100
destinations in Africa, the Middle East,
Asia, Europe and the Americas.
The new Emirates service will operate
Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. It also brings
2
additional international cargo lift to
Seattle with 15-ton freight capacity on
the aircraft.
Emirates flies to more than 10
destinations in India from its Dubai
hub, which also is a major financial and
trade center. Nearly 80 percent of the
world’s population lives within eight
flying hours of Dubai. With a fleet of 157
aircraft, Emirates currently flies to 114
destinations in 67 countries.
This will be the eighth new
international service added at Sea-Tac
since 2007.
CONSTRUCTION SERVING RENTAL CAR CUSTOMERS
onstruction of Sea-Tac Airport’s new five-story consolidated rental car facility,
UPDATE
just north of the airport, is more than 97 percent complete. It will house airport-
Continued from page 1
AIRLINE REALIGNMENT
Also over the next couple of years,
the evolution of the airline industry is
expected to manifest in facility changes
at Sea-Tac Airport. This realignment will
make more efficient use of the terminal
areas and put airlines in locations best
suited for their future growth.
Design, planning and preliminary work
for moving various ticket counters, gates
and office spaces will occur during 2012
in preparation for the actual relocations
expected to begin in early 2013.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, now
consolidated under the Alaska brand
name, will center their operations in the
north satellite and on concourse C. This
will reduce their activity on concourse
D. Since Delta Air Lines merged with
the former Northwest Airlines, their
consolidated activities have been
primarily at the south satellite. Delta
will continue to share the south satellite
with the international carriers. United
Airlines, merging with Continental
Airlines, will have consolidated activities
on concourse A. Southwest Airlines,
which acquired AirTran Airlines, will
realign on concourse B.
About half the airlines at Sea-Tac will
be affected. Due to the domino effect,
the realignments are expected to make
it necessary for various other airline
operations to also shift gates, counters
and office locations at Sea-Tac.
SERVING INTERNATIONAL
PASSENGERS
With increasing international flights
placing more demand on the south
satellite, the port recently replaced 20
older immigration booths in the arrivals
processing area with 30 new ones.
Plans for further improvements
for international passengers include
upgrades and/or expansion of waiting
areas, baggage claim devices, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection
operational and office space, and
the Transportation Security Agency
checkpoint. Construction could begin
as early as summer 2012.
C
related rental car operations for about a dozen companies, with shuttle buses to
transport customers to and from the airport, customer amenities and other services.
Nearing completion, Sea-Tac’s newest facility is slated to open in the spring. -Photo by Sky-Pix Aerial
The customer service building on
level 5 is complete, with the exception
of tenant improvements that will be
designed and constructed by each of
the facility’s rental car company tenants.
As you drive by the facility at night,
you can see the customer service
building’s expansive canopy fully
illuminated, as well as lighting on the
lower floor levels 1 through 4, where cars
will be rented, returned and processed.
Tenant improvements on these lower
levels began this past fall. Customers will
access these floors by using the helices
on the east side of the facility. The helices
are enclosed with metal mesh artwork
panels designed with multi-colored LED
nighttime lighting. At the perimeter of
the site, groundcover, trees and shrubs
will provide a visual buffer.
The quick turn-around buildings,
where recently returned cars will be
washed, vacuumed and refueled, are
about 98 percent complete. Work on
the roadways leading in and out of the
facility is wrapping up.
The rental car facility also will have
shuttle bus stops for picking up and
dropping off customers going between
3
the airport and the customer service
building, plus areas for taxi drop off
and shuttle buses that will serve off-site
rental car companies.
The structures to support rental
car customer bus services are more
than half complete. Included are a bus
maintenance building, a washing and
cleaning area, a compressed natural gas
fueling station, and bus parking.
In a related project, the port recently
constructed special zones along the
north and south ends of the main
terminal lower drive, where the rental
car facility buses will pick up and drop off
customers. This project has two phases:
The first one was the new bus curbside
construction. Phase two, scheduled for
early 2012, will be installation of signage
inside the main terminal to guide
passengers to and from the bus zones.
In keeping with its green initiative,
the port will seek LEED certification
from the U.S Green Building Council for
several sustainable features at the bus
maintenance facility. The rental car
facility is expected to be the second and
largest LEED-certified rental car facility in
the nation. Both facilities are expected to
open in April 2012.
PORT PROVIDES
MORE CREEK
IMPROVEMENTS
T
he Port of Seattle recently
completed new environmental
improvements to Miller Creek and
habitat, west of Sea-Tac Airport, as
follow-on mitigation related to building
the airport’s third runway.
To eliminate a fish barrier at South
160th Street, workers removed an old
bridge and box culvert that the creek
flowed through. To improve fish habitat,
they rerouted and reshaped that
portion of the creek to a more natural
configuration, and installed spawning
gravel, logs and root wads. They also
added more spawning gravel and plants
at the north end of the creek near South
154th Street. In addition, they planted
the banks at both sites with more than
3,000 willows and other plants.
Monitoring of the new channel and
associated habitat will continue for
several years.
RECYCLING NEWS
THIS IS WHERE WE
SAY GOODBYE....
L
ook for a new educational outreach
campaign at Sea-Tac designed to
encourage passengers to separate
their trash and recyclables while here at
the airport.
The concept employs a combination
of text, symbols, a little humor, and bold
colors and graphics to attract attention
and boost recycling overall. The campaign includes bin wraps, signs, posters
and banners.
“Pitch in to the right bin” is the campaign slogan. It calls passengers to
action with clear direction to separate
waste from recyclables and to deposit
each in appropriate bins. Headlines
reinforce the separation concept while
playing on those feelings we associate
with saying goodbye. Graphics include
playful “recyclable” versus “trash” characters; a diverging road image; and
mountains, trees and planes that reflect
our region’s natural beauty and the aviation industry.
Concurrently, digital animation with
the same messaging will be broadcast in
early 2012 on the CNN monitors throughout the airport.
It’s time we
went our
separate ways.
Thanks for pitching
in to the right bin!
EVENT SPOTLIGHTS SEA-TAC
T
he Washington State Recycling
Association (WSRA) chose Sea-Tac
Airport as the site of its fall 2011
Washington Recycles Every Day event.
This provided a rare opportunity
for representatives of 60 statewide
corporations to learn about the Port of
Seattle’s waste reduction efforts, as well
as efforts by airlines, contractors and
surrounding hotels.
Attendees saw first-hand the
recycling programs that make Sea-Tac
a nationally recognized industry leader
in aviation operation waste reduction,
specifically highlighting the off-aircraft
recycling program and the public food
area scraps collection.
FIFTH RECYCLING AWARD
And, for the fifth straight year, Sea-Tac won the Best Workplaces for Recycling
& Waste Reduction recognition from King County’s Solid Waste Division for being a
consistent recycling and waste reduction champion.
4
ALASKA OPERATES FLIGHTS FUELED BY COOKING-OIL BLEND
A
laska Airlines recently used biofuel
on regularly scheduled commercial
flights, raising awareness of the
need for an adequate, affordable
and sustainable supply of alternative
commercial aviation fuel.
Included were 11 flights between
Sea-Tac Airport and Washington, D.C.,
and 64 between Sea-Tac and Portland
from Nov. 9 through 19. Powered by a
20 percent blend of biofuel, these flights
were selected to demonstrate the use
of biofuel on a high-profile transcontinental route via a Boeing 737 and a
short-haul operation that competes
with ground vehicle traffic using the
Bombardier Q400.
The flights were the next logical step
following the spring 2011 report from
the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest
study. (See related story below.) Biofuels
are expected to help the airline industry
reach its goal of cutting carbon dioxide
emissions in half by 2050 compared with
2005 levels.
Alaska purchased the cooking-oilbased alternative fuel from a company
called SkyNRG.
STEWARDSHIP EFFORTS GARNER MORE KUDOS
S
ea-Tac Airport and the Port of
Seattle – committed to being the
“Green Gateway” for environmental
leadership and award-winning programs,
continue to garner recognition for those
efforts.
The Sustainable Aviation Fuels
Northwest Program, comprised of
the Port of Seattle, Port of Portland,
and Spokane International Airport,
received recognition for Special/
Innovative Projects during presentation
of the Airports Council International –
North America 2011 Environmental
Achievement Awards.
Together with their steering team
partners – Boeing, Alaska Airlines, and
Washington State University – and consulting facilitator Climate Solutions, the
three airports (Sea-Tac, Portland and
Spokane) convened more than 40 stakeholders and observers to assess the feasibility, challenges and opportunities of
scaling up a commercially viable and
sustainable renewable aviation fuels
industry in the Northwest. This initiative
takes place within a global network of
seven similar stakeholder processes led
by Boeing, which all support the broader
aim of achieving carbon-neutral growth
across the aviation industry beyond
2020. The program results, published as a
report, provide a “flight path” for scaling
up this industry in the Northwest. The
approach and results are already being
considered for adoption by stakeholders
in other regions of North America.
The port also recently won Seattle
Business Magazine’s Green 50 award for
local businesses and institutions that
“deserve recognition for believing that
forthright stewardship of our resources is
good business.” The port won the award
in the Government/Academia category.
This award was based on environmental initiatives at both the
seaport and airport, including the
creation of a centralized preconditioned air system for aircraft parked at
Sea-Tac gates, and for the Sustainable
Aviation Fuels Northwest project.
The winner or winners will be
announced during April 2012 in
conjunction with Earth Day. Details are
available online at www.portseattle.
org/environmental or by calling
(206) 787-5395.
The Port of Seattle launched this
program in 2010, when Alaska Airlines
and HMSHost took the honors.
Alaska won for increasing its in-flight
recycling rate from 28 percent to 46
percent, and for increasing recycling at
its Sea-Tac flight kitchen from 25 to 106
tons. HMSHost won for both recycling
and composting. This airport partner
diverted about 90 percent of its preconsumer food scraps from landfills
by composting at its airport food
preparation areas. Host also recycled
70 tons of cardboard, 83 tons of glass
and large quantities of other materials.
CALL FOR ENTRIES:
SHARE YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL
SUCCESS STORIES
I
t is time to submit nominations for
Sea-Tac Airport’s Green Gateway
Environmental Excellence Award,
in recognition of tenants’ environmental
efforts during 2011.
The nomination period ends
March 15, 2012. Candidates can selfnominate or be nominated by another
organization or individual. Categories
are environmental performance,
education & outreach, and innovation.
5
SEA-TAC READY FOR WINTER WEATHER
CUSTOMER SERVICE
f Mother Nature has much snow in
store for winter 2012, Sea-Tac Airport
is ready to deal with it.
The airport has 37 pieces of heavy
equipment on hand for snow and ice
removal, including seven high-speed
plows, five snow blowers and nine
high-speed brooms. When there is a
snow event, this equipment can clear a
runway in 30 to 45 minutes. The airport
also has two vehicles that drive the
length of each runway to measure the
surface friction or braking capability.
With sensors below the surface, on
the runway itself and above ground,
the port’s snow team receives real-
irport Jobs employment center
is offering SuperHost® Customer
Service Training that teaches skills,
techniques and best practices of frontline customer service professionalism.
Graduates of this three-day course
earn an industry-recognized credential
and transferable college credit. The
next class is scheduled for Jan. 27, Feb. 3
and Feb. 10 in the employment center,
Room MT6447M on the mezzanine
level in the Sea-Tac Airport main
terminal. It is free of charge for airport
employees who register. For details,
contact Mary Turla at (206) 787-7504 or
turla.m@portseattle.org.
This internationally recognized course
was first developed by Tourism BC
(British Columbia) to prepare hospitality
and services workers for Expo 86. Since
then, more than 800,000 employees in
20 countries completed the training.
I
time notification on when the runway
surfaces are expected to reach the
freezing point, causing falling snow
and ice to begin to stick. Once all the
information is analyzed, workers can
plan accordingly, adjust the amount
of deicing fluid to use on the runways,
and apply precisely the right amount
to prevent snow and ice from bonding
to the concrete. The runoff from the
pavement, which can contain deicing
fluids, is treated at the airport’s
industrial waste treatment plant or at
the regional sewage-treatment plant
prior to being released to natural
water bodies.
UPGRADE YOUR EXPERIENCE
T
he Conference Center at Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport is building on its recent success as a meeting
place by launching a new branding identity and an
expanded marketing push. Located on the mezzanine
level of the Port of Seattle’s Airport Office Building and
operated by the port, fees from the center help boost
revenues for the airport, which in turn support jobs and
facility improvements.
Even though bookings increased 44 percent in the
last year, indications are the center has more potential
for growth.
Capitalizing on the facility’s unique identity and servicedriven customer focus, the center staff chose “upgrade
your experience” as the slogan for new branding. New
messaging emphasizes the first-class facilities, flexibility and
the airport location. Marketing materials feature a stylized
luggage tag and airplane flight graphics and the greens and
blues associated with the port and the Northwest.
The staff: Rebecca Fanelli, Conference Center manager, and Olivia Ingram and Amy
McDonough, sales managers, will use new brochures, business cards, fact sheets and
web graphics as they expand their already-proactive marketing outreach through trade
shows, advertising and signage in 2012.
Meanwhile, airport tenants are encouraged to consider the Airport Conference Center
for their meetings. To request a quote, contact (206) 787-6602 or info@portseattle.org.
Mention BLUEPRINT for a 10 percent discount!
BLUEPRINT
BLUE
BLUEPRINT is a publication about construction and
activities at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
If you have questions or comments about the
content, call Aviation Public Affairs, (206) 7874604, write to Editor, Blueprint/Public Affairs,
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, P.O. Box
68727, Seattle, WA 98168-0727, or send email to
st.laurent.m@portseattle.org.
The Port of Seattle operates under the State of
Washington’s Public Disclosure Act. To obtain public
records, please email specific requests to publicdisclosure@portseattle.org, phone (206) 787-3094 or fax
(206) 787-3205.
www.portseattle.org
8
A
KEEPING IT QUIET
T
hree airlines earned the 2011 Fly Quiet
Awards for their noise reduction
efforts in 2010. Air Canada Jazz
finished first, with Sky West Airlines/United
Express second, and Mesaba Airlines/Delta
Connection receiving honorable mention.
This was the second year in a row
Air Canada Jazz and Skywest won the
award. The Fly Quiet incentive program
recognizes airlines that work to reduce the
impacts of jet noise on the region.
PORT OF SEATTLE
COMMISSIONERS
Tom Albro
Bill Bryant
John Creighton
Rob Holland
Gael Tarleton
AIRPORT MANAGING
DIRECTOR
Mark M. Reis
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Director, Patricia Akiyama
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Tay Yoshitani
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