Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

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The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. The dispute is about NW SEA-PEK Route/NW HKG. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page before making changes.(April 2009)

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Sea-Tac Airport
Main terminal with views of the runways at SeaTac
IATA: SEA – ICAO: KSEA – FAA: SEA
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Port of Seattle
Serves		Seattle; Tacoma
Location		SeaTac, Washington
Elevation AMSL		433 ft / 132 m
Coordinates		47°26′56″N 122°18′34″W / 47.44889°N 122.30944°W / 47.44889; -122.30944
Website		www.portseattle.org/seatac/
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
16L/34R	11,900	3,627	Asphalt
16C/34C	9,425	2,873	Concrete
16R/34L	8,500	2,591	Concrete
Statistics (2008)
Passengers			32,196,528 (2.9% up from 2007)
Aircraft movements			345,242 (.5% down from 2007)
Air Cargo (metric tons)			290,653 (8.9% down from 2007)
Sources: FAA[1] and airport web site[2]

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (IATA: SEA, ICAO: KSEA, FAA LID: SEA), also known as Sea-Tac Airport, is located in SeaTac, Washington, United States at the intersections of State Route 518, State Route 99 and State Route 509. It is located about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Interstate 5. It serves Seattle, Washington and Tacoma, Washington as well as western Washington state. The airport is a hub for Alaska Airlines, whose headquarters is located near the airport, and its regional subsidiary Horizon Air. The airport has service to many destinations throughout North America, Europe and East Asia. The airport also serves as a focus city for Northwest Airlines.

"Welcome to Sea-Tac!" is said in an automated announcement in the airport's parking garage and skyways, in reference to the nickname that locals of the Seattle metropolitan area have given it. The name came before the city of SeaTac, Washington was founded.

In 2008 Sea-Tac served nearly 32.2 million passengers, making it the 18th busiest airport in the United States. It ranks 25th in total aircraft operations and 19th in total cargo volume.^[3]

The top five carriers at Sea-Tac in number of passengers carried in 2007 were Alaska Airlines (35.0%), Horizon Air (13.1%), Southwest Airlines (8.7%), United Airlines (8.6%), and Northwest Airlines (6.7%).^[3]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Possible new airline service 1.2 Southwest Airlines controversy 1.3 Christmas tree controversy 1.4 Incidents and accidents 2 Terminals, airlines, and destinations 2.1 Central Terminal 2.1.1 Concourse A 2.1.2 Concourse B 2.1.3 Concourse C 2.1.4 Concourse D 2.2 North Satellite Terminal 2.3 South Satellite Terminal 3 Ground transportation and access 4 Future development 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

Seattle-Tacoma Airport was constructed by the Port of Seattle in 1944 to serve civilians of the region, after the U.S. military took control of Boeing Field for use in World War II. The Port received $1 million from the Civil Aeronautics Administration to build the airport, and $100,000 from the City of Tacoma. Commercial use of the airport began after the war ended, with the first scheduled flights occurring in 1947. Two years later, the word International was added to the airport's name as Northwest Airlines began direct service to Tokyo. The runway was lengthened twice, first in 1959 to allow use by jets, and again in 1961 to handle increased traffic for the upcoming Century 21 World's Fair. The current terminal complex was built in 1959. In 1966, SAS inaugurated the airport's first non-stop route to Europe. The Port embarked on a major expansion plan from 1967 to 1973, adding a second runway, a parking garage, two satellite terminals, and other improvements to the airport.

Numerous residents of the surrounding area filed lawsuits against the Port in the early 1970s, complaining of noise, vibration, smoke, and other problems caused by the airport. The Port, together with the government of King County, adopted the Sea-Tac Communities Plan in 1976 to address the airport's impact on the area and guide its future development. The Port spent more than $100 million over the next decade to buy out homes and school buildings in the immediate vicinity, and soundproof others nearby. In the mid 1980s Sea-Tac participated in the airport noise compatibility program initiated by Congress in 1979. Airport noise contours were developed, real estate was purchased and some homes were retrofitted to achieve noise mitigation.^[4]

In 1978, the U.S. ended airline regulation. Subsequently, U.S. airlines were allowed to determine routes and fares without government approval. Deregulation resulted in new service to Seattle, including TWA, which was the fourth largest U.S. airline.

After the death of U.S. Senator "Scoop" Jackson in 1983, the Seattle Port Commission voted to change the name of the airport to Henry M. Jackson International Airport, ostensibly to honor the late Senator. However, denizens of Tacoma interpreted the name change as an insult to their community —the second time in the airport's history that the port authorities had attempted to remove "Tacoma" from the official name. But the $100,000 that Tacoma had provided for the airport's construction during World War II had come with an explicit promise that the city would be included in the airport's name. The City of Tacoma eventually prevailed in their attempt to return the long-standing moniker, and the name reverted to Sea-Tac early in 1984. [4]

Starting in the late 1980s, the Port of Seattle and a council representing local county governments considered the future of air traffic in the region and predicted that Sea-Tac Airport could reach capacity by 2000. The planning committee concluded in 1992 that the best solution was to add a third runway to Sea-Tac and construct a supplemental two-runway airport in one of the neighboring counties. Members of the community strongly opposed a third runway, as did Highline School District and the cities of Des Moines, Burien, Federal Way, Tukwila, and Normandy Park, but a 1994 study concluded there were no feasible sites for an additional airport. The Port of Seattle approved a plan for the new runway in 1996, prompting a lawsuit from opponents. The Port secured the necessary permits by agreeing to noise reduction programs and environmental protections. Runway opponents appealed these permits, but dropped their challenges in 2004. The runway opened on November 20, 2008, with a total construction cost of $1.1 billion.

There have been some problems in the past with airplanes landing on Taxiway Tango, mistaking it for one of the runways. A large "X" has been placed at the north end of the taxiway to prevent the planes mistaking it with a runway. More strategies have been used to prevent Taxiway Tango from being mistaken for Runway 16R, but all attempts have failed.^[5]

[edit] Possible new airline service

Port of Seattle Commission President John Creighton said the Port of Seattle is working to secure nonstop service between Seattle and Shanghai. After the European Union and US signed an open skies agreement, airlines such as Aer Lingus and bmi, among others, have shown interest in starting service to Seattle.^[6]

Virgin Atlantic announced it looked at Seattle among other cities as a future destination when they announced their aircraft order of 15 Boeing 787-9.^[7]

V Australia has received permission from the DOT to fly to Seattle and several other U.S. cities from its planned hub in Sydney, Australia.

Emirates Airline has indicated that Seattle is being considered as a future destination, most likely using a Boeing 787.^[8]

Shanghai Airlines has announced intention to start service between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Seattle for the Summer/Fall of 2009 with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. This flight is still pending government approval.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has stated that it is considering nonstop service to Seattle from Nagoya using Boeing 787 aircraft. Along with Seattle, ANA is considering service to Denver, Boston and Miami from Tokyo, and to Los Angeles from Nagoya.^[9]

[edit] Southwest Airlines controversy

Citing increased landing fees and other costs due to the aforementioned work at the airport, Southwest Airlines threatened in 2005 to move to nearby Boeing Field. This plan, however, ran into several problems. First, because Boeing Field is a public airport and each airline would have to have been offered equal access, this would have required more capacity than available on the airport's single runway suitable for large commercial airplanes. (Boeing Field has a parallel, smaller runway used by general-aviation airplanes.) Major renovations to the airport would have been required to alleviate this problem. While Southwest did indicate willingness to pay for upgrades to the airport, there were also problems with the transportation infrastructure around Boeing Field, which was not designed to handle traffic in and out of a major passenger airport. It eventually became clear that Southwest Airlines would not fund the necessary transportation improvements, and the plan was shot down by King County Executive Ron Sims. ^[10] Furthermore, there were concerns that the high costs of operating the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport would be increased even further if some airline service were moved to Boeing Field, which was expected to be less expensive to operate for the airlines.

[edit] Christmas tree controversy

On December 9, 2006, a controversy arose over the airport's display of Christmas trees, which the Port of Seattle officially called "holiday trees" in all public statements. Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky of Northwest Friends of Chabad-Lubavitch requested that he be permitted to install a chanukkiyah in addition to the trees. Talks were unproductive. The rabbi's attorney, Harvey Grad, sent a legal document to the port. Fearing a lawsuit, the airport took 14 Christmas trees down. This attracted international media attention. After Rabbi Bogomilsky and other Jewish leaders stated that they had no intention of suing the Port of Seattle, the port reinstalled the trees on the night of December 11, 2006.^[11]

[edit] Incidents and accidents

• November 30, 1947: Alaska Airlines Flight 009, a Douglas C-54A en route to Seattle from Anchorage, Alaska, landed in heavy fog and damp conditions after failed attempts at nearby Boeing Field and Paine Field in Everett. The plane touched down 2,748 feet (838 m) beyond the approach area to Runway 20 and sped onto a nearby road, colliding with an automobile and bursting into flames. Nine fatalities resulted from the accident, including a blind woman riding in the car.
• April 2, 1956: Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser headed to Portland, Oregon and points east, experienced reduced power and extreme buffeting shortly after take-off due to an improper setting of the airplane's cowl flaps by the flight engineer. Plans were initially made to land at McChord Air Force Base, but the pilot was forced to make a water landing in Puget Sound east of Maury Island. The plane sank within 15 minutes; five of the 38 on board died.
• November 24, 1971: Northwest Airlines Flight 305, a Boeing 727 flying to Sea-Tac from Portland International Airport, was hijacked by Mr. D. B. Cooper. Cooper released the passengers after landing in exchange for $200,000 and four parachutes, ordered the plane back into the air, and jumped out over Southwest Washington with the money.
• April 15, 1988: Horizon Air Flight 2658, a twin-engine de Havilland Canada Dash-8^[12] departing for Spokane, experienced a power loss in the #2 engine shortly after takeoff. While the crew lowered the gear for landing as they returned to the airport, a massive fire broke out in the right engine nacelle, resulting in a loss of braking and directional control. After touchdown, the aircraft veered off the runway and crossed the ramp, colliding with multiple jetways before coming to a stop. Four of the 37 passengers were seriously injured, but there were no fatalities.
• February 28, 2001: The 2001 Nisqually earthquake damaged the Air Traffic Control tower at Sea-Tac, although a new earthquake-resistant tower was being built at the time to replace the old one. It is now operational.
• December 26, 2005: Alaska Airlines Flight 536, an MD-83 headed from Seattle to Burbank, California, experienced a loss of cabin pressure shortly after takeoff. Emergency oxygen masks were deployed in the cabin and the aircraft returned to Sea-Tac to make an emergency landing. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported. According to the NTSB, a baggage handler admitted to failing to immediately report bumping the plane at the gate with baggage handling equipment. The dent created by bumping the aircraft became a 1-foot (30 cm) gash when the aircraft reached altitude. ^[13][14]
• February 2009: More than a dozen of planes landing in Seattle were targeted at night by bright green laser beams from a nearby neighborhood next to the airport. No accidents have occurred, but local police and the FBI have taken action on searching for suspects in a seemingly harmless prank pilots do not take jokingly.
• On 29 April 2009, Asiana Airlines Flight 271, a Boeing 777 flying from Seattle to Incheon International Airport (ICN) in South Korea with 179 passengers and 16 crew aboard, made an emergency landing shortly after taking off from Sea-Tac after fire and smoke were seen emanating from the left engine. The airplane dumped fuel over Puget Sound before landing safely at Sea-Tac around 3:30pm. As of May 4, 2009, a compressor stall is blamed for the incident. Local residents expressed environmental concerns about the fuel dump but authorities assured the general public that the fuel dump is not fatal or have any adverse consequences.^[15]

[edit] Terminals, airlines, and destinations

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has a Central Terminal building with four concourses (A — D) and two Satellite Terminals (North and South). The satellite terminals are connected to the central terminal by an underground people mover system. There are three security checkpoints for the entire airport. Once through security, passengers have access to all gates.

[edit] Central Terminal

[edit] Concourse A

Concourse A has 14 Gates: A1 - A14

Airlines	Destinations
AirTran Airways	Atlanta[16], Baltimore[17], Milwaukee
American Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York-JFK, St. Louis
Frontier Airlines	Denver
JetBlue Airways	Boston, Long Beach, New York-JFK, San Diego
Midwest Airlines	Kansas City
US Airways	Charlotte, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix
Virgin America	Los Angeles, San Francisco

[edit] Concourse B

Concourse B has 11 Gates: B3, B5 - B12, B14, B15

Note: International Arrivals are handled in the South Satellite Terminal.

Airlines	Destinations
Horizon Air	Bellingham, Billings, Boise, Bozeman, Calgary, Edmonton, Eugene, Fresno, Great Falls, Idaho Falls [ends August 23], Helena, Kalispell, Kelowna, Medford, Missoula, Pasco, Portland (OR), Pullman, Redding [begins August 25], Redmond, Reno/Tahoe, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Spokane, Sun Valley, Vancouver, Victoria, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Yakima
Continental Airlines	Anchorage, Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark
Hawaiian Airlines	Honolulu, Kahului
Southwest Airlines	Albuquerque, Boise, Chicago-Midway, Denver, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville [seasonal], Oakland, Phoenix, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Jose (CA), Spokane

[edit] Concourse C

Concourse C has 11 Gates (with jetways): C8 - C12, C14 - C18, C20 and 12 parking slips (used by Horizon): C2B — C2H, C2J — C2N

Note: International Arrivals are handled in the South Satellite Terminal.

Airlines	Destinations
Alaska Airlines	Anchorage, Atlanta [begins October 23][18], Austin [begins August 3][19], Boston, Burbank, Cancún [seasonal], Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Fairbanks, Honolulu, Houston-Intercontinental [begins September 23][20], Juneau, Kahului, Ketchikan, Kona, Las Vegas, Lihue, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los Cabos [seasonal], Mazatlan [seasonal], Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Newark, Oakland, Ontario (CA), Orange County, Orlando, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta [seasonal], Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Sitka [seasonal], Spokane, Tucson, Vancouver, Washington-Reagan
Horizon Air	See Concourse B

[edit] Concourse D

Concourse D has 11 Gates: D1 - D11

Airlines	Destinations
Alaska Airlines	See Concourse C

[edit] North Satellite Terminal

The North Satellite Terminal has 14 Gates: N1 - N3, N6 - N16

Note: International Arrivals (except customs pre-cleared flights from Canada) are handled in the South Satellite Terminal.

Airlines	Destinations
Air Canada	Toronto-Pearson
Air Canada Jazz	Calgary, Vancouver
Alaska Airlines	See Concourse C
United Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Los Angeles [seasonal], San Francisco, Tokyo-Narita, Washington-Dulles
United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines	Los Angeles, Moses Lake, Portland (OR), Spokane

[edit] South Satellite Terminal

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The South Satellite Terminal has 13 Gates (with jetways): S1 - S12, S15 and four parking slips: S16A-S16D.

Note: All international arrivals (except flights from cities with customs preclearance) and the following departures are handled in the South Satellite Terminal:

Airlines	Destinations
Aeroméxico	Los Cabos, Mexico City
Air France	Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Horizon Air	See Concourse C
Asiana Airlines	Seoul-Incheon
British Airways	London-Heathrow
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Kahului, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City
Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines	Salt Lake City
EVA Air	Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan
Hainan Airlines	Beijing-Capital
Icelandair	Reykjavík-Keflavík [begins July 22][21]
Korean Air	Seoul-Incheon
Lufthansa	Frankfurt
Northwest Airlines	Amsterdam, Beijing-Capital, Detroit, Honolulu, Memphis [seasonal], Minneapolis/St. Paul, Tokyo-Narita
Scandinavian Airlines System	Copenhagen [ends July 31][22]
Sun Country Airlines	Minneapolis/St. Paul [seasonal]

[edit] Ground transportation and access

The airport is served both by King County's Metro Transit bus system and Sound Transit regional express buses. Taxis, rental cars and door-to-door shuttle service are available. All public transit services are located at the end of baggage claim next to door 00. Taxis and door-to-door shuttle services are located on the third floor of the parking garage in the Ground Transportation center. STITA (Seattle Tacoma International Taxi Association) has the exclusive taxi contract with the Port of Seattle to operate at SeaTac Airport, as does STILA (Seattle Tacoma International Limo Association) for all "for hire" limo services. Shuttle Express is the only on demand door-to-door shuttle service operating out of SeaTac, with service covering Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, and the Eastside. Shuttle Express also provides limos, towncars, and buses on a charter basis. Free parking for the first 30 minutes was discontinued in the mid 1990s.

There is also a scheduled bus service to downtown Vancouver, Canada through Quick Shuttle, with other pick up stops at downtown Seattle, Bellingham International Airport, and drop off stops just inside the Canadian-U.S. boundary and at Vancouver International Airport. The cost is about $55 each way.

Seattle's Central Link light rail line is currently being extended to the Sea-Tac airport; planned to be finished by December 2009.

[edit] Future development

The airport will be served by the SeaTac Airport Station on the Sound Transit Central Link light rail line extension scheduled to commence service in December 2009.

The Port of Seattle began reconstruction work of Sea-Tac's oldest runway, 16L/34R, in April 2009. Removal and replacement of asphalt will continue through September 2009.

A 23-acre (93,000 m²) rental car facility was originally scheduled to open in Spring 2011^[23][24]. However, construction has been suspended on December 15, 2008 by vote of the Port of Seattle Commission^[25]. The new scheduled completion date is in 2012 and the project is to recommence at the end of July ^[26]. The project site is located at the northeastern portion of the airport. The rental car facility will have 5,400 parking spaces when completed and will free up 3,200 parking spaces in the current central parking structure.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (official site)
• HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History - Detailed articles on the history of the airport.
• WSDOT Pilot's Guide: Seattle-Tacoma International (PDF 57 kb)
• WSDOT Economic Impacts: Seattle-Tacoma International (PDF 444 kb)
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Web Cam Daily Time Lapse Movie
• FAA Airport Diagram(PDF), effective 2 July 2009
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KSEA
  • ASN accident history for SEA
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KSEA
  • FAA current SEA delay information