SEATAC central terminal rennovation
 

So I haven't been to SEATAC in a while and last night I had the pleasure of transiting through it. What are they doing? The central terminal space was perfect. Lots of seating, good choice of dining spots. Now the whole place is a nut house at peak times and you can't sit and eat anywhere at all. Looking at this video it looks like there's now going to be limited seating and just some big open space. What is the plan here? Why take a good airport and make it junk?

It was a big open space already? It's a renovation. The walls will come down.

No rendering is going to show it full of tables, noise and nasty luggage - it's a marketing video. The point is to make it look fresh, open and inviting. They're adding a second level mezzanine and 10,000 SQ. FT more space for seating, shops and restaurants. I'm sure your precious tables will remain.

It's not just the tables that's the problem. There's no space at the gates to sit so basically people used to hang out in the central terminal. Now there's no seats at peak times anywhere for anyone.

Would you prefer that, instead of reducing seating for now so that they can have more once renovations are done, they just did nothing despite SEA's traffic growth?

I think to get a better feel for what the central terminal will feel like take a look at what they did at both the D Bus gate terminal and the North terminal. Both feel big, but both also have more seating than the existing gates. I understand that central terminal is not a gate, and the table are there mainly for seating while eating, but still between the old footprint and the new second levels there should be lots of available seating. I used to go mostly to Anthony's because it has sit down service and I do not have to try to juggle my carryon as well as food while searching for a place to sit, which used to be quite hard to find at times. The renditions on the web page showing the new south side where Salty's with the Brew Pub above will be (across from the new Mezzanine on South side) look much more inviting.

I'm sure all the tables in the middle will be back when the temporary walls come down. The only major change when its all complete - as far as I can tell - is that there will be elevators & stairs on each side to take you up to new dining/sitting spaces on top of the restaurants. So - more seating overall.

Semi off topic, but I have to ask: why is it called the "Central Terminal" when it's really just a food court with no actual gates?

Because it is the middle of the terminal? The meeting place for the terminal? The center of the terminal? Lol, idk, but those all sound good to me.

When is the Central Terminal suppose to open?

The video says end of 2019, but perhaps that is just the lower concourse not the mezzanine.