SEATAC – Congestion at Sea-Tac Airport may ease soon due to a new high-tech parking system put in place recently.

The new system monitors traffic conditions through cameras and uses signs to help visitors find open parking spaces.

And it’s just in time, as over 109,000 passengers are expected to go through the airport today, the busiest day of the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Previously, many passengers got stuck in a seemingly endless loop, circling the six floors of the parking garage looking for a place to park.

This new system utilizes 88 cameras to monitor traffic in the garage. These cameras are linked to 80 new signs that direct drivers to floors and rows with available parking spaces.

Once on a floor, a sign will indicate how many spaces are available to the left or right, said the Port of Seattle today. More signs will indicate how many spaces are available within each four-row section.

Friday will be the busiest day of the holiday weekend, but today also has been busy with a projected 105,000 passengers. For the rest of the weekend, Saturday is expected to have 85,000 passengers; Sunday, 75,000 passengers; and Monday, 87,000.

These projected numbers put the weekend in the top third of the airport’s busiest days. The busiest days are during the height of the summer travel season in mid-August.

For more information on parking and other Sea-Tac tips, go to www.portseattle.org/seatac.

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Danny Westneat of The Seattle Times has an interesting column about a recent, unusual security breach at SeaTac Airport.

This one did not involve any fluids over four ounces however; rather, it’s a story about a van driven right onto the tarmac by a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army named Greg Alderete.

An excerpt:

So when he realized he had driven a van onto a runway tarmac at Sea-Tac airport — and that no one had asked his name, checked his ID or searched his vehicle — well, he just about lost it.

“I was appalled,” Alderete says. “If you go in the airport’s front door, they take away your tube of toothpaste. But the back door? That’s the weakest security of any critical facility I’ve ever seen.”

“We were sitting there, the engine idling, nobody around, when all of a sudden I realized: We’re out on the goddamn runway,” Alderete recalled. “We’re in a gassed-up, seven-passenger van, and no one really knows who we are. We have an unobstructed path to the main runways, the commercial gates, the whole place. It was unbelievable.”

Full story here.

SEATAC – Nw u cn uz txt msgs 2 chk flts @ c-tc!

In other words…now you can use text messages to check flights at Sea-Tac!

The new service, implemented by the Port of Seattle, allows travelers the convenience of checking their flight information on their cell phones.

It uses a simple text message request that returns updated flight information back to the user’s phone via text message and is compatible with most cell phone brands.

Users get real-time flight information including current departure or arrival times, gate numbers, and additional flight status updates.

Here’s how it works:

• Text “FlySEA” (359732)
• Text the name of your airline and flight number. For example: Alaska 1234
• Within seconds, you’ll receive the latest real-time information, including the flight number, departure or arrival time, gate number and flight status
• Cell phone updates are a one-time, passenger activated service
• In order to receive another update you must text the address again
• Your cell phone carrier’s standard rates apply

For those interested in receiving e-mail notifications for real-time flight status, customers must sign up for the free service on the Port of Seattle’s Web site.

SEATAC – Sea-Tac International Airport registered number 17 in overall airport satisfaction, according to a study conducted by J.D. Power and Associates.

The list was comprised of the 19 largest (30 million or more passengers per year) airports in the country.

Only San Francisco International Airport and Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport ranked worse; Philadelphia International ranked No. 1.

Sea-Tac scored a 656 compared with Philadelphia International’s top score of 690 and Minneapolis/St. Paul’s bottom score of 647. The average of all 19 airports was 674, according to J.D. Power’s study.

Sea-Tac scored at the bottom of every category used in the study, including:

• Overall airport satisfaction
• Airport accessibility
• Check-in/baggage check
• Security check
• Terminal facilities
• Baggage claim
• Food and retail services

SOURCE:

• Puget Sound Business Journal