Passenger service is back at King County International Airport after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. JSX will resume flights on July 23, with one flight to Las Vegas each Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday. Kenmore Air resumed flights in late June with three daily flights to Friday Harbor. Get more information on JSX’s COVID-19 protocols and Kenmore Air’s COVID-19 update.

KCIA staff have been busy making improvements to the terminal to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Carpenter Scott Armstrong installed sneeze guards for all airline counters and the front desk badging office.  In addition, stickers on the lobby floor remind people to stay six feet apart.

Kevin Nuechterlein, Capital Project Manager, and Matt Sykora, Properties and Business Development Administrator, are both back at the airport after having served as part of the Donations Management Team at King County Emergency Management’s Emergency Operations Center during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nuechterlein was part of the first small group of employees who, under Senior Emergency Management Program Manager Janice Rahman’s leadership, worked with KCIT in March to develop a web-based platform to match donors with those who needed personal protective equipment (PPE), hand sanitizer or other items.

“It was quite exhausting at first while we were creating the infrastructure for these systems from scratch and seeing the overwhelming need out there,” Nuechterlein said. “However, it is work like this, finding creative ways to meet the needs in the community, which is why I went into public service in the first place.”

Sykora joined the Donations Management Team in early April.

“When I first got there we were responding to emails as fast as we could,” Sykora said. “We would coordinate with the donors on how they could deliver their donation to the King County warehouse or deliver it to a local medical facility near them.”

“It was very encouraging to see so many people doing what they could do to help out. If it was one N-95 mask or 50,000 surgical masks all the donations played a role in helping …get the personal protective equipment out to the organizations that needed it the most.”

Both Nuechterlein and Sykora said they built important relationships while at Emergency Management.

“I will take back with me the relationships I built working at the Emergency Operations Center,” Nuechterlein said. “The dedicated staff from OEM, Public Health and many other divisions were a true joy to work with. I hope to have other opportunities to work with them in the future – hopefully under better circumstances.”

Sykora agreed.

“I was happy to go and support them as we never know when we will be asking for the same support from them,” he said.

Nuechterlein added that he will bring back much to the airport from OEM.

“I will also take the innovation, collaboration and lack of ego that I saw at the EOC back to my regular job as well,” he said. “I appreciated the can-do attitude and humor folks exhibited even under such stressful situations. Everyone was there to support the greater good; a win for one person was truly a win for all. It was ‘One King County’ at its finest.”

Learn more about the Donations Management Team’s work in this Seattle Times article:

King County workers voluntarily leave their main jobs to find recipients for coronavirus donations

A new fire truck, 90% funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, has replaced an older one in the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) unit at KCIA.

“The fire truck can release a special foam that covers a burning aircraft and does not allow it to burn,” said Greg Thomas, ARFF chief. “It has several turrets for flowing water and foam and a single driver can use the vehicle to its fullest capability. It can also shoot water and manage a building structure fire.”