A new $15.5 million maintenance facility at Evansville Regional Airport (EVV) is boosting the efficiency of airfield operations and has literally opened the door to buying larger and more productive snow removal equipment.
A $31 million facility completed this summer at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International (BHM) is helping the Alabama airport accommodate fast-growing demand for cargo support and position it for even more cargo-related growth.
A new taxiway completed late this summer at Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) marks the first step in an aggressive expansion program to help the northern Alabama airport keep pace with dramatic regional economic growth.
One of the busiest cargo airports in the world—Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)––now is even busier, thanks to a nearly $10 million sorting facility for FedEx Express that opened there late last year.
A new $7 million ground run-up enclosure is boosting safety and operating efficiency at Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC), a general aviation airport in northeastern Michigan, along the Lake Huron shoreline.
A new $9.9 million aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) station is enhancing operational efficiency at Monterey Regional Airport (MRY), as well as providing a more comfortable environment for the personnel that call it home for days at a time.
Growth can be elusive for any airport, especially small ones that suffer ‘leakage”the loss of customers to larger nearby airports. Appleton International Airport (ATW) in east-central Wisconsin and Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) in South Carolina have a new tool to help plug their revenue-killing leaks: FlyMyAirport from Airport One LLC.
Pilots, baggage handlers and ground crews at Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL) are seeing things in a different light these days, courtesy of a $1.7 million upgrade of lighting fixtures around the terminal apron.
Officials at Oakland International Airport (OAK) in California orchestrated a complex, multi-phase rebuild of a critical taxiway that was substantially completed in about 80 days without any disruptions to airline traffic.
It’s sad, but true: Most route maps on airport websites are about as bland as in-flight meals. But Memphis International Airport (MEM) recently spiced up its version by offering customers a veritable smorgasbord of intel about flight destinations and associated attractions’all on one sleek web page with lots of videos and clickable links.
The snow removal team at Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) is nationally recognized as one of the best in the business, with impressive credentials including 10 Balchen/Post Awards for excellence in snow and ice control. When a historic blizzard tested the team’s mettle this past December, it rose to the challenge in dramatic fashion.
A comprehensive $60 million makeover at Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) has streamlined operations and made travel easier for passengers. Key components included consolidating ticketing and security screening areas, merging two terminals into one, expanding baggage claim facilities and adding entrances to parking facilities to periodically reduce traffic jams outside the terminal.
A $21.7 million geothermal heating and cooling system currently being installed at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) is the first of its magnitude at a U.S. airport. The project is designed to reduce the Kentucky airport’s energy costs for natural gas and electricity by roughly $400,000 annually. It also should reduce SDF’s carbon footprint by about 80%.
A $5.6 million project to upgrade fuel farm infrastructure at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT) in Kansas was completed this summer without any disruption to operations. The project included phased repairs and upgrades to six 25,000-gallon underground tanks that store jet fuel as well as other system improvements.
In one fell swoop, John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) in Ohio made it easier for travelers to pick up/return rental cars, improved efficiency for rental companies and gained 1,700 parking spaces. How did it achieve this operational trifecta’ By building a new $134 million rental car center that was funded by customer facility charges instituted back in 2007.
Emergency response operations at Coastal Carolina Regional Airport (EWN) now are more efficient and effective, thanks to a new $5.2 million facility that consolidates functions previously located in separate locations throughout the airport.
Airport operators short on usable real estate might want to check out what’s happening at San Diego International (SAN), an airport that is boxed in by both land and water. Using a digital system to dispatch taxis has allowed SAN to significantly decrease the land needed for its taxi hold lot and freed up valuable space for other uses.
Several years ago, YSB started investing in larger pieces of equipment that do the work of multiple machines to help its small, but seasoned, staff remove more snow in less time. That, in turn, allows the airport to allocate its 15 snow removal employees and seasonal workers more efficiently. To handle copious amounts of snow with a relatively small snow removal staff, the Ontario airport takes a tactical approach that emphasizes advanced equipment and machines that boost productivity and efficiency.
The Los Angeles Airport Police Division (LAXPD) now has a home befitting of its status as the largest airport law enforcement agency in the United States. The 1,100-member department moved into a new $216 million facility on the north side of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in fall 2021.
Passengers and workers at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) who need medical assistance no longer have to wonder if there’s a doctor in the house. In August, the airport opened a full-service urgent care clinic in its main terminal; and the new facility typically treats approximately 50 to 60 patients per day.
While many airfield safety programs focus on runways, Tampa International (TPA) recently finished a $78,500 project that honed in on its apron area. The Florida airport established a well-defined route specifically designed to decrease the speed of ground service vehicles and help keep them a safe distance from parked and taxiing aircraft.
The recent rehabilitation of an aging levee will help protect Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) from flooding for decades to come. In the meantime, the $22 million project also offers a valuable lesson about the benefits of planning ahead.
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) suffered a significant financial blow a little more than a decade ago when Delta Air Lines dropped the airport as one of its primary hubs. But in true make-lemonade-out-of-lemons fashion, airport leadership charted a new course, based on a simple premise: A multi-legged stool is more stable than one with a single leg.
Maintenance personnel at McCarran International Airport (LAS) no longer put pen to paper when they log maintenance performed on runway lights. Instead, a digital asset management system uses GPS technology to track the work performed and pushes the information to a cloud-based platform to enhance the accuracy of maintenance records.
Memphis International Airport (MEM) recently addressed several separate, but related, facility issues in one deft move. By constructing a new nerve center for operations and maintenance, the Tennessee airport not only substantially increased its own efficiency, it also accommodated the expansion needs of its largest tenant, FedEx.
