b'AIR SERVICE DEVELOPMENTLAF 63Procurement Services and the West Lafayette community withOur current terminal was built in 1943 as a hangar. In the how many tickets we could sell. 1970s, modifications were made to accommodate scheduled This is a joint effort, he continues. Local and communitycommuter airlines, says Baxmeyer. In our current situation, leaders have all gotten behind it. space constraints make handling aircraft with more than 30 seats a challenge. The new terminal is being designed and built to Jacobs and Cestari did the same within the airline. We knewaccommodate narrow-body jets and will have a larger holdroom, that LAF is not EAS [part of the federal Essential Air Servicescreening areas and more ticket counter space.program] and we dont get paid at all if we dont fly. We had to make that clear to our company, Jacobs explains.Jacobs notes that building a new terminal wasnt required for adding service at LAF, but it was a factor the airline considered. Haan recalls that a lot of other work had to be done as well,The new terminal will make a much better passenger experience such as bringing in TSA, preparing the terminal and marketingand help grow air service into LAF. the new air service. It was truly a team effort between Purdue, Southern, CMT [Crawford, Murphy & Tilly] and others to finallyFlying Billboardbring scheduled service back after 20 years.Southern Airways Express is using several nine-seat Cessna Caravan C208Bs for its new LAF/ORD service. According to Infrastructure Investments Jacobs, the venerable turboprop is uniquely suited for the short-Whether or not LAF succeeded in reestablishing commercialhaul, moderate-altitude route because it is a reliable aircraft built for service, runways and other infrastructure still had to be maintainedhigh-volume operations of 1,000+ hours per year. or constructed to improve airport safety and security. This May and June, Runway 5-23 was resurfaced. Also in May, a ceremonialCestari notes that the aircraft have a lot of cargo capacity, groundbreaking occurred for the new $11.8 million Amelia Earhartwith room for big bags and even bikes (a selling point for student Terminal. The approximately 9,400-square-foot terminal will includepassengers). There are no middle seats. Every seat is a window areas for ticketing, passenger screening, baggage claim andand an aisle seat, he spins. holdrooms. Construction is expected to be complete in August 2025. Southern markets itself as the largest commuter airline in the United States and is working to establish hubs. The one in Connecting people and improving communities through high quality airport solutions.TERMINALS & HANGARSState-of-the-art structures designed toelevate the overall passenger & client experience. 1-888-AVCON-99 See how AVCON puts www.avconinc.com the pieces together. www.transystems.comAirportImprovement.comSeptember 2024'