A friend of mine was in charge of re-doing the flight paths into and out of SEA a few years ago. Then he became the mgr of terminal expansion. I heard all kinds of stories from him about politicians and residents; complete with death-treats and everything. Apparently people on Mercer Island were very unhappy about the new flight paths going over the lake and over the island. Very interesting stuff. Clay - SEA -----Original Message----- From: Bahadir Acuner [mailto:bahadiracuner@xxxxxxxxx]=20 Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 5:13 AM Subject: Re: Sea-Tac director resigns; guided decade of change As a person who has been struggling to get an operating permit at Renton airport, dealing with corrupt politicians that go to my competitor right after I pass my business plan, with city council members who feel like they need to protect the current businesses because of the gifts that flow their way, I can understand her frustration.. BAHA Fan of sanity. -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Clay Wardlow Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 7:46 AM To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Sea-Tac director resigns; guided decade of change This is kind of a big deal for those of us in Seattle. This woman has = =3D been through so much the past few years. I wish her the best of luck and =3D all the happiness in the world. =3D20 Clay - SEA =3D20 Sea-Tac director resigns; guided decade of change =3D20 Gina Marie Lindsey, the polished and powerful bureaucrat who led =3D Seattle-Tacoma International Airport though a decade of painful growth = =3D and profound changes in the airline industry, will leave the job this = =3D summer to move to Washington D.C.=3D20 Lindsey has been a key figure in the bruising fight to build a third =3D runway at Sea-Tac. With construction due to resume next month, her =3D decision to leave comes at a crucial time for a project that has doubled =3D in cost to $1.2 billion and remains mired in lawsuits.=3D20 But for a woman who runs the nation's 17th-busiest airport and rose to = =3D the top ranks of an industry still dominated by an "old boys club," the =3D chance to relocate and rebuild a personal life shattered by last year's =3D death of her only son was more important.=3D20 "To be frank about it, I need to put a future life together that doesn't =3D have the same centerpiece that it used to," Lindsey said. "A different = =3D job, a different town and a different house - that will facilitate that =3D kind of evolution."=3D20 Lindsey, 50, is not sure what she will do in Washington, although it =3D will probably involve policy work for the aviation industry. The move = =3D was prompted by her husband, Tom Dow, an executive at Princess Cruises = =3D who has accepted a job lobbying for the cruise line's parent company, = =3D Carnival Corp.=3D20 Lindsey will remain at the $196,000-a-year job until mid-August. The =3D Port has asked airport Deputy Director Mark Reis to take her place.=3D20 The handoff should be relatively seamless, Port Commission President =3D Paige Miller said.=3D20 Reis has worked closely with Lindsey for years. His strength in =3D financial matters will come in handy as the Port struggles to pay for = =3D the largest expansion in its history without raising landing fees high = =3D enough to drive away cash-strapped airlines.=3D20 Lindsey's decision "comes at a good time, because so much of what she = =3D spent her tenure putting in place is complete or within earshot of =3D completion," Miller said.=3D20 Lindsey, a native of Alaska, was the director of Anchorage International =3D Airport when Sea-Tac lured her away in 1993.=3D20 A communications graduate of Walla Walla College, she opted for a career =3D with Alaska's transportation department over lower-paying work as a =3D television reporter.=3D20 At Sea-Tac, her job largely boiled down to one thing: Build the third = =3D runway. The proposed runway sparked a furious protest, mostly from =3D communities near the airport.=3D20 Despite the opposition, Lindsey said she never expected to be working on =3D the project for so long.=3D20 Her frustration over delays, rising costs, and legal fights was apparent =3D in March.=3D20 "Would I have taken the job if I had known I would spend 10-=3DBD years = =3D fighting for a runway?" she asked. "The answer is probably not. Let's = =3D get a life."=3D20 Although legal challenges remain in the state Supreme Court and the 9th =3D U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the airport may start work this summer = =3D filling in the wetlands at the center of the lawsuits. Opponents are =3D trying to block the work.=3D20 "She has not done anything extraordinary in terms of finding other =3D solutions at Sea-Tac," said Stuart Creighton, chairman of the Airport = =3D Communities Coalition, a nonprofit group fighting the runway. "She has = =3D worked right down the line to follow the Port's plan."=3D20 The runway is one element of the airport's $4.2 billion expansion, which =3D started in the 1990s as a growing number of planes and passengers pushed =3D Sea-Tac to capacity.=3D20 The work includes the new Arrivals Hall and Concourse A, which is to =3D open this spring, and an expansion of the main terminal, to be completed =3D next year.=3D20 Sea-Tac's first major renovations in 30 years were designed to update = =3D its drab interior and help the airport generate more money from the sale =3D of food, books, magazines and gifts.=3D20 But the costs of construction - including the third runway - will push = =3D landing fees at Sea-Tac to some of the highest in the country, squeezing =3D airlines that have lost billions of dollars and a large chunk of its =3D business from the recession and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.=3D20 The attacks also forced the airport to accommodate sweeping and =3D expensive changes in security and screening equipment.=3D20 Mounting financial pressure last year led Lindsey and the Port to lay = =3D off 66 airport employees. Last month, she was in Washington, D.C., =3D asking the Federal Aviation Administration to nearly double the $216 =3D million the agency has pledged for the third runway.=3D20 Meanwhile, Sea-Tac changed the way it charges airlines, shifting more = =3D financial risk to the airport in return for the chance to generate more =3D revenue and make better use of airport property. Airlines grumbled that =3D the new contract strips them of the power to block expensive =3D construction projects.=3D20 In 2003, Lindsey was elected chairwoman of Airports Council =3D International - North America, a trade group that represent major =3D airports in the U.S. and Canada. She was the first woman to hold the =3D position.=3D20 "I would be real surprised if 10 percent of our airport directors were = =3D women," said David Plavin, the organization's president. "(Her election) =3D is a testament, in some ways, because all these 'good-old boy' airport = =3D directors thought she would be a good chair."=3D20 As the group's spokeswoman, Lindsey was among the first to pressure the =3D new Transportation Security Administration over the long lines at =3D airport checkpoints, Plavin said.=3D20 But as she wowed lawmakers and led Sea-Tac through tumultuous years of = =3D change, Lindsey was dealing with tragedy.=3D20 In March 2003, her son, Jeremy Houk, a Tulane University freshman, =3D disappeared after a party in New Orleans during Mardi Gras weekend. More =3D than two months later, his body was found in the Mississippi River, =3D where he had drowned.=3D20 Lindsey decided to wait before making any major changes. But Miller, who =3D lives a block away from Lindsey on Queen Anne, said it was clear during =3D their long walks together that Lindsey was ready to move on.=3D20 "Her leaving is a huge loss for us, but given what has happened in her = =3D life in the last year or so, absolutely understandable," Miller = said.=3D20 "She has been remarkable at being an open and very human leader through =3D all of this time."=3D20 =3D20