SEATAC, Wash. — A warning for travelers out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA Airport): Major construction projects are underway.
Some projects are not expected to be completed by the summer, which airport officials estimate could be record-breaking in terms of travelers.
"We're trying to make the airport not feel like a construction zone,” said Lance Lyttle, the SEA Airport aviation manager director. “Even though it literally will be a construction zone for a while."
There's no hiding the amount of construction being done at SEA Airport right now.
"I feel like I'm running a construction company, and we have a little airport on the side," Lyttle said.
Officials said 120 projects are currently underway. The airport is investing $5 billion in upgrades over the next five years, hoping to finish most of them before the 2026 World Cup.
"It's all work that needs to be done,” said Greg Carey with SEA Airport. “But the deadline of summer of 2026 is because of the World Cup."
Some of the main projects include renovating the TSA security checkpoints. Despite the construction, airport officials said it should have a major impact on people getting through security. There are five security checkpoints at the airport, which won't change.
But what will change is the number of lanes at each checkpoint. During construction, only one lane out of 30 will be closed. Eventually, four new lanes will be added, which will add 600 passengers per hour.
This addition will be essential for this summer which SEA estimates could be historic, with 15.5 million passengers.
"Record-breaking numbers," Lyttle said. "Last summer we had 73,000 passengers coming through our checkpoint that was a record. We expect to have multiple 73,000 (passengers) days coming up this summer. So, we're trying to make sure we have enough capacity to handle that growth."
However before we hit June, airport officials expect an estimated 760,000 passengers will travel through the airport leading up to Memorial Day.
It will be close to record numbers, with the most overall passengers coming in and out on Friday before the holiday. Airport officials expect 173,000 travelers on May 24.