Airport welcomes VIPs
 Above: Air Force 2 from a previous visit last fall, courtesy of Annie Flodin.
King County International Airport - Boeing Field (KCIA) Operations staff supported another visit by First Lady Jill Biden last month. Dr. Biden flew into KCIA on September 21 and left the next evening. Staff were kept busy, as former President Barack Obama visited Seattle that weekend, flying in and out of KCIA as well.
Darkness and tight security prevented photography of the First Lady's recent visit.
Photo above right: Former President Obama's arrival on a Gulfstream G650 and the awaiting motorcade.
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Seven new employees join Maintenance
Meet the new Maintenance employees, clockwise from top left: Jon Asuncion, Utility Worker II; Savior Counts, Maintenance Intern; Ruben Herrera-Gonzalez, Equipment Operator; Elijah Morales, Utility Worker II ; Tony Nelson, Utility Worker II; Kyle Renner, Equipment Operator and Jaren Sio, Equipment Operator.
The Maintenance section recently hired seven new employees – three utility workers, three heavy equipment operators and one intern – to better serve the airport. The hires were budgeted positions to bring the Maintenance staff to 22.
“We wanted to increase it to contribute to being a world class airport,” said Raleigh Salazar, Maintenance Manager. “Our requirements for snow operations and the addition of new equipment for those snow operations, those were the drivers for increasing our staffing.”
The new heavy equipment operators will be operating a new sweeper, scheduled for arrival later this fall, that will help manage removal of Foreign Object Debris (FOD) as well as for snow removal. They will also support leaf cleanup in the fall.
“The shop has been understaffed for a couple of years,” Salazar said. “I was really happy that we had an opportunity to get new team members.”
The new employees were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, including many who are moving from the private sector to public sector work, Salazar added.
Former intern launches new career at airport
King County International Airport has a history of cultivating new talent. Deputy director Dave Decoteau once worked at the airport as an intern. So did Vanessa Chin, Innovation Section Manager; Eric Miller, Capital Project Manager; and Brian Bartley, Capital Project Manager.
One of the Maintenance crew’s newest hires, Elijah Morales, started as an intern with the airport last spring through the Career Launchpad program.
“He had an interest in pursuing something working with his hands and in a technical field, and had a good work ethic,” said Raleigh Salazar, Maintenance Supervisor. “I listened to what his goals were. I offered him an opportunity to expose him to the maintenance and trades in an airport environment.”
Morales already had his associate degree when he started his internship. He had done Running Start in high school and was working as a delivery driver.
“In my other job, there wasn’t anywhere to go,” Morales said. “I had already hit the ceiling.”
“He has so much potential,” said Andrea Lopez, his Career Launchpad counselor.
Lopez, who happens to be Decoteau’s sister, looked for something short-term for Morales that could expose him to new opportunities. The airport was an obvious choice.
So he started at the airport working weekends as an intern. He took care of repairs, maintenance, groundskeeping and landscaping on the airfield and at Ruby Chow Park.
“Our crew chiefs worked with him over the course of about four months and taught him some hands-on and safety work,” he added. “He took off like a rock star.”
What does Morales appreciate the most about the airport?
“For me, I love the people here. They’re people that come from a lot of different backgrounds,” Morales said. “It is really nice being able to work hard and take a little five-minute break to talk about the day or events in the world and go right back to work and finish the job.”
When openings for permanent maintenance jobs were posted, supervisors and Lopez encouraged Morales to apply.
“He was there less than a month or so and we noticed the job opening,” Lopez said. “This is exactly what we want.”
“He’s a committed and very motivated man. Now he has the potential to do other things,” she added. “He was excited to learn about the skilled labor. He may pursue training.”
His new job, a steady 40 hours each week, also allows Morales to pursue outside interests and give back to the community while reducing his time on the road. He coaches a baseball team that his younger brother plays for and he is a young adult leader in his church.
His experiences in previous jobs also give him an appreciation of his new position and the culture at the airport.
“I value what I have now,” Morales said.
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Airport supports local food bank
 King County International Airport is participating in the fourth annual Fly Washington Passport Food Drive. Pilots, travelers, employees and tenants alike may donate non-perishable food items at the Airport Administration Office in the main terminal or at one of the airport Fixed Base Operators. The food drive is underway through November 17. All food collected will be donated to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank in Georgetown. Thank you for your support!
Employees volunteer at Food Lifeline
 A group of airport employees volunteered at Food Lifeline on September 20. This was the airport's second volunteer event at the non-profit, which has a mission to end hunger in Western Washington. Employees sorted and repacked 9,600 pounds of apples that will be delivered to food banks and shelters across Western Washington.
Above, left to right: Silas Evans, Jorge Sanchez Yubero, Liz Evans, Alec Chandler, Tony Eayrs, Lorenzo Clara, Eric Miller, Evelyn Fotheringill and Jonathan Youngblood
Innovation Section welcomes new employees
Caitlin Hunt, CAD/GIS Intern
Education: Studying Geography with Data Science with a minor in Informatics at the University of Washington
Roles and responsibilities: Supporting data collection; field verifications; preparing or normalizing data to be used in GIS; creating maps, learning AutoCAD and creating drawings; and understanding the business process and workflow between CAD and GIS data, drawings, and map environments.
Quote: "I am beyond excited for this internship opportunity. From a young age, I've been passionate about people and always excelled in classes requiring creativity, problem solving, and mathematics.
Background and hobbies: "I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. I always loved exploring the outdoors, playing games with friends, and drawing and designing characters from my favorite fandoms."
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Silvana Vasquez, Data Analyst
Education: Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Currently working on her Master of Business Administration in Aviation Embry Riddle
Roles and responsibilities: Data analytics and visualization; data lifecycle management and organization; creating and maintaining dashboards, KCIA’s Hub and SharePoint sites, Microsoft O365 applications (e.g. PowerApps, PowerAutomate, Stream, etc.), graphic design, and metrics and reporting collaborating with sections Airport-wide.
Quote: "I have been passionate about aviation since I was a little girl because my dad was a pilot."
Background and hobbies: Silvana is originally from Bogota, Colombia, and has lived in the US for 13 years now. She trained to become a pilot a decade ago and is planning to go back and get her private license next year. She enjoys traveling, hot yoga, camping, hiking, and spending time with family and friends.
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Alexis Wall, Senior Business Applications Specialist
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Education: Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Iowa State University.
Roles and responsibilities: Any Innovation applications, systems, integration, or project request intake; drafting scopes of work for projects and/or implementation, facilitating requirements gathering, business requirements, diagraming business processes and workflows; and supporting system administration, business applications and solutions.
Quote: "I am passionate about leveraging technology to help people make better decisions. My career in higher education has been focused on developing tools and analytics to help the leadership make informed decisions."
Background and hobbies: Originally from a small town in Malaysia, Alexis moved to the US for college in 1992 and has been living here ever since. For the past 20 years, she has worked in higher education as an Applications Developer, Senior Business Intelligence Engineer, and Director of Business Analytics and Intelligence.
She enjoys sharing her love of yoga with others. She also enjoys cooking, gardening, and exploring the outdoors with her friends and family.
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New story pole welcomes airport visitors
New Native American artwork now greets employees and visitors alike as they arrive or depart from King County International Airport. Duwamish artist Michael Halady created the six-foot tall story pole, the Spirit of the Duwamish, which was recently installed just north of the terminal building.
A small celebration was held at the airport with members of the Duwamish tribal council, project and airport staff, and Halady’s family and friends on August 25.
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Photo above: Spirit of the Duwamish, 2023. Michael Halady. Carved cedar. King County Public Art Collection. Photo by joefreemanjunior.com
“The airport wanted to acknowledge the indigenous people of the area,” said John Parrott, airport director. “Through 4Culture, this project came to be what it is.”
4Culture, the cultural funding agency for King County facilitated the artist selection process and provided project management to install Spirit of the Duwamish. The airport funded the story pole.
“A story pole carved from 600-year-old cedar, the form of the sculpture references the house posts that held up two Duwamish longhouses on the site until at least 1855. It’s also a welcome figure with two major symbols: The lower one depicts the collective spirit of the Duwamish welcoming people to their ancestral lands, and the top one depicts Changer, a supernatural being and major figure in the cosmology of Puget Sound First Nations. Changer’s story is one of transformation—fitting for a place so steeped in Indigenous and modern history.”
Photo above: Artist Michael Halady, center, receives a gift of a blanket at an event celebrating the new story pole.
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The airport sits on land where the Duwamish River formerly flowed.
“The story of the story pole is a recognition of the Duwamish influence and their land. It was the right time to do that,” said Greg Thomas, former chief of KCIA’s Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting, who initiated the idea to recognize the history of the area through art.
For more information:
Photo at left: Dave Decoteau, deputy director at KCIA, wears a ribbon shirt representing his Little Shell Chippewa Native American heritage.
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Airport leaders attend NWAAAE conference
At left, left to right: Director John Parrott, Innovation Section Manager Vanessa Chin, and Oris Dunham, a noted aviation leader. Dunham was appointed as the first Director General of Airports Council International (ACI), based in Geneva, Switzerland, and held the position from 1991 to 1997.
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Several KCIA leaders attended the Northwest Chapter American Association of Airport Executives annual conference in Kelowna, British Columbia, from September 19 - 22.
Dave Decoteau, KCIA deputy director, moderated a session called "Transition to Alternative Fuels," a discussion about the rapidly evolving world of alternative fuels in aviation.
Also at the general membership meeting at the conference:
- Dave Decoteau, KCIA deputy director, was confirmed as Secretary/Treasurer for the NWAAAE Chapter Board
- John Parrott, KCIA director, was confirmed as Northwest Chapter Representative for the AAAE Nominating Committee.
Get an up close look at ARFF in video
Get a sneak peak at the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Unit (ARFF) in this video from the King County Sheriff's Office.
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