Although Renton Municipal Airport/Clayton Scott Field (RNT) is classified as a small general aviation reliever airport, its traffic is unusually taxing on airfield pavements. Every 737 produced at the adjacent Boeing factory takes its maiden flight off RNT’s single runway; and to access the runway, the heavy aircraft must traverse the airport’s 3,500-foot Taxiway B.
Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN) recently fixed a host of landside traffic problems by designing and rebuilding its roadways, parking lots and taxi pick-up area. The nearly $1.5 million project untangled what Executive Director Tim Larson describes as a “pretzel-like, almost figure eight, configuration” that had plagued the Connecticut facility for years.
In October, the last eight of 20 new gates at Dallas Love Field (DAL) opened for business. To service the new gates, the Dallas Department of Aviation and Southwest Airlines partnered to install an $11.6 million fuel hydrant system. Both projects were carefully timed to coincide with the much-anticipated expiration of the Wright Amendment.
Midway International Airport (MDW) is upping its game when it comes to tracking and maintaining assets both inside the terminal and on the airfield. Skyline Management Group, the Chicago airport’s property management firm, purchased a Web-based system for managing preventive and on-demand maintenance in late 2012; and company officials report that it is saving time and money alike.
Recent enhancements to baggage handling at Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) are setting new precedents for efficiency in the front of the house and behind the scenes. A fully automated self-service baggage drop is the first of its kind in North America; and associated backroom systems have more than tripled the Nova Scotia airport’s overall handling capacity.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) had a decision to make when the Metropolitan Airports Commission signed a new agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in spring 2013. MSP essentially had two options: Overhaul the drainage system in its...
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) celebrated the $201 million renovation of its terminal and concourses in August; but "renovation" doesn't fully convey the magnitude of its transformation. During the nearly four-year project, crews...
Over the past decade, the main terminal apron at Tucson International Airport (TUS) was beginning to require heavy maintenance. Cracking pavement was creating debris and the subsequent risk of foreign object damage for aircraft engines. Maintenance personnel at the...
With the clock ticking and a dauntingly long list of complex enabling projects to complete, Evansville Regional Airport (EVV) recently beat the Dec. 31, 2015, FAA deadline for runway safety area improvements by over one year. To do so, however, the airport had...
Authorities at Minneapolis-St. Paul Int'l Airport (MSP) understand that little things can have a big impact on passengers' overall travel experience. That's why they recently invested $1 million to update seating throughout Terminal 1 and plan to follow up...
When Raleigh-Durham International (RDU) opened its completely renovated Terminal 1 in mid-April, the North Carolina airport also marked the end of its 15-year, nearly $1 billion capital development program. The $68 million terminal includes a new nine-gate concourse,...
After years of planning, a false start in the wrong location and a major shift in airport governance, Fort McMurray International Airport (YMM) in Alberta finally has the terminal it needs to process the 1.3 million passengers projected to move through its facilities...
In April, United Airlines completed renovation of 35 employee break rooms spread throughout Terminals 1, 2 and 5 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD). The six-month project is part of a $20 million, five-year program to upgrade approximately 400...
As San Antonio International Airport (SAT) neared completion of its new Terminal B in 2010, airport and city officials began discussing ways to update the adjacent and aging Terminal A. Results of those talks are becoming apparent, as changes to the...
The Boomers are bailing — retiring to places where the weather is warm, drinks are cold and taxes low.
Like many U.S. airports scattered along the Canadian border, Bellingham International Airport (BLI) in Washington has faced interesting challenges presented by a growing influx of Canadian travelers who cross the border for less expensive U.S. airfares. A $38.5...
No one at Ted Stevens Anchorage International (ANC) can recall ever having to close the vital Alaskan airport because of snow or ice. Once, yes, because of winds in excess of 100 miles per hour, and once due to volcanic ash from Mount Redoubt; but no one remembers a...
The Houston Airport System and United Airlines have taken their public-private partnership to a whole new level with construction of a new concourse at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). At a total cost of nearly $150 million, the South Concourse of Terminal...
The recent $8 million reconstruction of the general aviation runway at Snohomish County Airport, aka Paine Field (PAE), is not the facility’s largest project by a long shot, but it was important nevertheless. Located about 30 miles north of Seattle in Everett,...
Airport visitors use many different names for restrooms - loo, privy, lav, water closet - but few mince words about poorly designed or ill-equipped facilities. Whatever they call them, restrooms are often the first place guests visit when arriving at an airport and...
Ever since Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) opened a new midfield ground run-up enclosure (GRE) last November, its neighbors are snoozing soundly through the night - and noise complaints have dramatically decreased. "The calls have pretty much...
"Success!" "Beyond our expectations!" That was the enthusiastic reaction as stakeholders and other curious observers watched the initial demonstration of an unmanned air traffic advisory system at Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) in...
Runway 4R-22L serves a special role at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). At 12,000 feet long, it's the only runway that allows a fully loaded 747 or 777 to depart and fly nonstop to Asian destinations during the warm summer months. As such, 4R-22L...
In August, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) flipped the switch, so to speak, on a new high-tech parking system. The $50 million project includes a new parking and revenue control system, two new entry/exit plazas, command centers at each plaza and...
Officials at Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport (FNL) were understandably befuddled when Allegiant Airlines pulled out of the northern Colorado airport last October after a decade of service there. Inbound and outbound aircraft were often nearly full, and FNL had...
