Sea Tac Airport

There is one infrastructure that has been a part of most of my life. Living and going to school within in it's space has been presented (in recent years) of being a negative concern, rather than a positive one.

Sea Tac Airport is the ninth busiest airport in the United States. With it's runways, the amount of flights taking off and landing has increased at a pace where two planes can take off close together with a gap in flights that can be closed five minutes inbetween flights.

It is hard to believe that my Grandparent's lived in a neighborhood (off of Des Moines Boulevard behind the Sunnydale Tavern) from 1952-1975 where it would seem insane that a neighborhood was there as it is now in the flight path of the third runway.

This subject will probably see many topics in the future from it's history, it's progression, and the health consequences that have been discovered for living and working within it's flight path.

This page focuses on the current state of the airport in August of 2022.

The current configuration of the main terminal and it's concources, follows a design that was completed 50 years ago as the original mid-century white washed terminal was encapsulated by a new structure for incomming and outgoing passengers regulated by internal freeway system connecting SR 518 to I405, I5, and SR 509 to the metro areas with access to Highway 99 for local access.

The parking structure (in front of the airport) is the largest parking garage in North America with eight floors of parking for over 18,000 vehicles. The upper floor of the garage has even been reported in surveys (Best of Seattle) for romantic interludes with views of Puget Sound, Mt. Rainer, and the takeoff and landings of the air traffic.

Airport History

The airport was initially constructed in 1944 after the military took control of Boeing Field.

The original terminal was just a small building with enough room for a few chairs and a stove. In 1949, a terminal terminal was built that is now considered the central terminal.

While Boeing was constructing jet aircraft, the terminal was modified in the 1960's to handle them with additional gates and concourses.

In the early 1970's, the airport was remodeled to start the current configuration that is today, providing more space to incomming and outgoing traffic complete with it's own expressway connecting to SR518 and Highway 99. The peoplemover system was also introduced as passengers travel from the North and South Satellites to the main terminal via an underground automated subway system.

In the 21st century, concources have been expanded. International travel resides on the South Satellite providing overhead access from a skybridge to the main terminal for customs.

During this time, the third runway was constructed to handle additional flights that allow two planes to take off at the same time (using runway 1 (or 2) and 3).

The Sound Transit Link light rail system has been integrated into the airport that can take passengers to Northgate. Once the south line is completed, the next phase will go from Angle Lake (just South of Sea Tac) to Federal Way. This will make transit time from Federal Way to Sea Tac take about 15 mins.