Not to give Boston too much credit, but this is a great idea: in 2019 Logan Airport introduced Ticket to Skip, a program that gave security line priority access to travelers arriving via the MBTA bus, ferry, or water taxi. They saw immediate results, with ridership of the Back Bay Logan Express bus nearly doubling in the following months.

So why not give Link riders the same option? Sea-Tac already has Spot Saver priority lines in place, so all you need is a ticket dispenser at the light rail entrance to hand out passes. Even the drivers benefit—more transit riders means less congestion overall.

Cell phones changed a lot about society, but a big one was that it made it much easier to be picked up at the airport. Passengers can simply text their ride when they finally deplane, not requiring their significant others and very good friends to use short-term parking. But that led to a lot more drivers lingering just outside the airport—often idling on the road shoulder right under signs that prohibit just that.

Even the improvements to the airport's Cell Phone Lot—created in 2014, upgraded with free Wi-Fi, and with a new entrance ramp in 2022—haven't stemmed the tide. Sure, shoulder waiting is more convenient for the driver, but the rule breaking is dangerous (emergency vehicles do need access) and frankly annoying. The Port says its police force is aware and has looked into license plate scanning. Regardless, we say it's time for a ticket spree.

Nobody's happy when standing in the covered-but-still-chilly courtesy vehicle lane, craning your neck to see if the right Master Park shuttle is approaching. Or waiting in the ride-share area while the dot that represents your Uber inches closer and closer on the phone screen. So: heaters. Please.

The corridor from the airport light rail station to the skybridges that lead to the terminal is interminable, even for a city that likes hiking. It seems like the ideal location for a moving walkway. This thought has occurred to a lot of people, so there are real reasons for the lack of speed-assist in the passageway. "Unfortunately, it physically can’t work. Sounds easy but it’s not," says SEA media relations manager Perry Cooper. That airport garage has what's called a post-tension cabling system, which is just engineer speak for "can't support a moving walkway." The current solution: an electric cart that shuttles travelers back and forth, free for anyone.

There is a new transportation facility in the Sustainable Airport Master Plan, which would have walkways into a new North Satellite. But that's all still under environmental review. Interim solution? We say loaner roller skates.

The Bad Egg Breakfast Bar opened earlier this year in the North Satellite. All-day brisket biscuit breakfast sandwiches? Yes. But not open for those soul-crushing 6am flights? Boo. Aim high, Sea-Tac, and go 24 hours on breakfast.

It sounds a little pie-in-the-sky, more akin to that amusement park idea, but it's a solid suggestion, and a chance to show off one of the region's most popular exports. Pickleball is famous for its easy access to beginners—not a lot of rules, not a lot of sweat. Could be the perfect distraction before a cross-continental squeeze into economy.  The only worry would be that court-hungry Seattleites might start buying plane tickets they don't plan to use, just to access new pickleball real estate.

This suggestion comes from Seattle Met food expert Allecia Vermillion, and we can't say it more succinctly than she: "Great to bring as gifts, or stuff in your face in flight." Sure, local shops have been popping up in the airport over the past decade, everything from the Sub Pop record store to Filson to Elliott Bay Book Company. But a few more truly indie outposts would be appreciated—just imagine where an airport Dick's would rank. (Cooper says the airport gets that specific request a lot.)

In 2022, a massive new structure debuted, linking the South Satellite to the central terminal. The 780-foot aerial walkway is the world's largest building over an active taxi lane, and now allows international arrival passengers to stroll to customs rather than wait for the internal train. Can we get one to the North Satellite, please? A people mover is being considered in the master plan, which is a fun name but less appealing.

In the tech hub of Seattle, it's nuts that we haven't used technology to solve the issue of crowding around a gate to hear if our boarding group is up yet. With so many passengers (nearly 46 million last year) it can be impossible to hear audio announcements. Airport or airlines, we don't care who—give us an app that pings us when we're three minutes out from being allowed aboard, and we can chill at the next empty gate and avoid the cattle call.

Airports, Seattle's included, have long since become shopping malls of a sort. But a few essentials should be free. In the age of Covid, why not have kiosks handing out masks for when you change your mind about going free-faced on a long haul flight? Or earplugs, for when you arrive at the gate and hear the telltale wail of a distressed baby (or the chatter of a loud talker you just know will end up next to you). Small packages of wet wipes for cleaning off infamously germy tray tables. Sure, there's a cost—but the health and sanity benefits would be huge.