This explainer from Sea-Tac Noise.Info describes Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as a large-scale assembly line with three interconnected sections: air (airspace and runways), terminal (gates, passengers, and baggage), and road (cars, trucks, pedestrians, and light rail). The airport processes people, cargo, and vehicles across roughly 450,000 flights per year—more than 1,230 per day—with the goal of moving everything smoothly between sections and no delays. A bottleneck in any one section can ripple through the entire system, making capacity planning central to the airport's Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP).Open full document
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This presentation by Sea-Tac Noise.Info (STNI) explains the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) by framing airports as factory assembly lines with three main sections: Air, Terminal, and Road. It describes how Sea-Tac Airport processes people, cargo, and vehicles across roughly 450,000 flights per year, and notes that a choke point in any section can cause delays throughout the system.