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Statistics (2005) Number of Passengers 29,289,026 Aircraft Movements 341,762

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport , also known as Sea-Tac Airport, is located in SeaTac, Washington at the intersections of Washington State Route 518, Washington State Route 99 and Washington State Route 509. It is located about 1.5 miles from Interstate 5. It serves Seattle, Washington and Tacoma, Washington as well as the Seattle metropolitan area. The airport is a hub for Alaska Airlines and its regional subsidiary Horizon Air and has service to many destinations throughout North America, Europe, and East Asia. It is also a focus city for Northwest Airlines.

The airport has public Wi-Fi available, provided by Wayport.

"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 2005, Sea-Tac served 29 million passengers making it the 17th busiest airport in the United States and 30th busiest in the world. It ranks 29th in total aircraft operations and 20th in total cargo volume,

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 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.

After the death of US 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 "erase" Tacoma from the map. 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.

In the mid 1980s Sea-Tac participated in the airport noise compatibility program intitiated by Congress in 1979. Airport noise contours were developed, real estate was purchased and some homes were retrofitted to achieve noise mitigation. 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 is currently under construction, and is scheduled for completion in 2008 at a cost of $1.1 billion. A project recently completed is the Central Terminal that contains the Pacific Marketplace, a retail and dining area of the airport. Lately, there have been some problems 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*.

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 King County International Airport, otherwise known as 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.

Incidents and disasters

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 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, Ore. 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, killing five of the flight's 38 passengers.

November 24, 1971: Northwest Airlines Flight 305, flying to Sea-Tac from Portland International Airport, was hijacked by a man now known as D. B. Cooper. He 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.

January 31, 2000: Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which was headed on a Puerto Vallarta-San Francisco-Seattle-Tacoma route, crashed into the Pacific Ocean, killing everyone on board.

February 28, 2001: The 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 , which was headed from Seattle, WA to Burbank, CA was forced to make an emergency landing. The cause was a 12" by 6" hole in the fuselage, which caused the plane to lose cabin pressure. The cause of the hole was a collision prior to the flight by a baggage handling cart which created a dent that turned into a large hole when the plane hit altitude.

February 12, 2006: United Airlines Flight 949, arriving from O'Hare International Airport, collides with a passenger bridge shortly after landing. The aircraft, a Boeing 757, had taxied to the jetway, stopped and set its brakes. The aircraft then rolled forward, causing minor damage to the plane after an engine cowling struck the bridge. One passenger and a flight attendant experienced minor injuries as a result of the incident.

Concourses

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has a main terminal building with four concourses, and two satellite terminals. The satellite terminals are connected to the main terminal by an underground people mover system. Major news was announced that British Airways which operates daily flights between Seattle and London (Heathrow), has just announced it will add another flight on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, making it two flights a day on those days.

Concourse A

Concourse B

  • Continental Airlines (Anchorage, Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
  • JetBlue Airways (Boston, New York-JFK)
  • Southwest Airlines (Albuquerque, Boise, Chicago-Midway, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville, Oakland, Phoenix, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Jose (CA), Spokane) - Gates B6, B8, B10, B12, and B14

Concourse C

  • Alaska Airlines (Anchorage, Boise, Boston, Burbank, Cancun, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los Cabos (seasonal), Miami, Newark, Oakland, Ontario, Orange County, Orlando, Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Sitka, Spokane, Tucson, Vancouver, Washington-Reagan)
    • Horizon Air (Bellingham, Billings, Boise, Bozeman, Butte, Calgary, Edmonton, Eugene, Fresno, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, Kelowna, Lewiston, Medford, Missoula, North Bend/Coos Bay, Pasco, Portland (OR), Pullman, Redmond, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa March 20, 2007, Spokane, Sun Valley, Vancouver, Victoria, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Yakima)

Concourse D

North Satellite

South Satellite (International)

Gates S1-S12, S15, and S16A-D

General Aviation

Private pilots please note that Boeing Field is a short drive north, and courtesy cars are available so small aircraft approaching at 75 knots can avoid interfering with jets at 130 knots.

Should a private pilot wish to fly into SEA, the airport has a landing fee with a minimum invoice of $25, and ASIG, the on-field FBO has a minimum $19 ramp fee. ASIG will transport people between the FBO and the terminal, so picking up or dropping off airline passengers is as easy as flying into Boeing Field.

External links

Airports in Washington | Seattle metropolitan area

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport | Seattle-Tacoma International Airport | Aéroport international de Seattle-Tacoma | Bandara Internasional Tacoma Seattle | Seattle-Tacoma International Airport | シアトル・タコマ国際空港 | Port lotniczy Seattle-Tacoma

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Seattle-Tacoma International Airport".

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