Families getting ready for a final summer trip and Labor Day weekend can be assured Sea-Tac Airport is ready to welcome them during what has been a record shattering summer travel season. More staff and new customer service strategies turned aside worries of long security lines from earlier in 2016.
For the next two weeks, Sea-Tac projects around one million travelers will come through the airport each week.
“At the beginning of summer, we set a goal of 20 minutes or less for peak-time waits in TSA security lines and with a few exceptions, we worked with our airline partners and the TSA to achieve this goal,” said Sea-Tac Managing Director Lance Lyttle. “We upped our game and intend to keep it that way as Sea-Tac projects serving several million more passengers this year compared with 2015.”
In just six years, Sea-Tac’s passenger totals increased by nearly 15 million - 31.5 million in 2010 – compared to 2016’s projected total of more than 45 million.
Smooth summer for Sea-Tac: how’d it happen?
More staff focused on customer service
- Additional customer service “Pathfinders” working more hours of the day
- 90 customer service workers freed up TSA workers to open more checkpoint lanes
- Team of volunteers – around eight each day – to help travelers along with an additional team of 30 high school and college interns.
- More traffic control staff to keep vehicles on driveways moving
TSA security line improvements
- Changed ID check stations and line configurations to improve traffic flow
- Digital displays of line wait times
- Occasional live music performers near checkpoints to sooth travelers
More TSA line options
- TSA PreCheck enrollment center at Sea-Tac ticketing level
- Introduction of CLEAR enrollment and dedicated lanes
A super (busy) summer
- July 2016 was Sea-Tac’s busiest July ever - almost 4.7 million passengers - nearly 300,000 more than 2015 (6.5 percent increase)
- July domestic passenger traffic was up six percent vs. 2015 - international traffic was up 12 percent.
- Sea-Tac has set annual passenger records for the past five years, totaling 42.3 million in 2015, a 12.9 percent increase from 2014 which was seven percent higher than 2013. For the past two years, Sea-Tac is the fastest growing large hub airport in the U.S. and is the 13th largest domestic airport based on total passengers.
Ready for the future
The Port of Seattle is working on more than $2 billion in near-term projects to accommodate more passengers, including renovating and expanding the North Satellite, new International Arrivals Facility, updated baggage system and a 20 year Sustainable Airport Master Plan.
Traveler tips
Travelers can prepare by visiting our travel tips webpage. Despite Sea-Tac’s TSA line improvements, wait times vary depending on several factors and travelers are recommended to arrive two hours prior to domestic flights and three hours for international travel to allow time to park, get through airline ticketing/bag drop and security checkpoints.
