Sea-Tac makes changes to get travelers through airport security faster

SEATAC, Wash. — More than 135,000 passengers are expected at Sea-Tac Airport Wednesday.

Security line wait times are always an important factor to calculate into what time passengers need to arrive for flights. Travelers may want to arrive two hours early this week.

After taking a close look at what was bogging down security earlier this year, Sea-Tac added new digital displays that list the wait times for each checkpoint, so passengers can go to the fastest one.

A study at the airport also found a lot of people were forgetting to take water bottles out of their carry-ons.

Tables are available for passengers to leave their bottles, but the airport discovered something else--all of those half-filled bottles and coffee drinks were adding to its garbage bill.

The bottles were going to the landfill and adding weight to the garbage.

In response, the airport installed six liquid drain stations for people to empty the bottles first, and Sea-Tac is now diverting four tons of liquid every month, saving nearly $8,000 a year.

“They're helping to reduce costs, they're helping to avoid some of the weight we generate in terms of garbage, and it's also helping to speed up the passenger lines," said Jeremy Webb with Sea-Tac Airport.

Sea-Tac is also encouraging travelers to bring empty reusable bottles that can be filled at refill stations on the other side of security.

That part of the program has saved 2.5 million bottles or 26 tons of plastic from the landfill.

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