36
TERMINALS  
November | December 2026      AirportImprovement.com
LBF
America’s Great Plains are a 
physical manifestation of the term 
wide open spaces.
But the longtime terminal at Nebraska’s 
North Platte Regional Airport Lee Bird Field 
(LBF)? Not so much.
Built nearly 75 years ago, the building’s 
cramped terminal was a vestige of a 
bygone era. The holdroom seating was 
beyond inadequate and its bathrooms 
were likewise subpar. The only food 
or drinks to be had were inside a tired 
scattering of vending machines. 
Even worse, over the 25 years since 
the Sept. 11 terror attacks, LBF too 
often moved travelers through the TSA 
checkpoint and then straight outdoors. 
There wasn’t enough indoor space to hold 
a planeload of people, not even for smaller 
50-seat aircraft.
When space limitations forced LBF to 
pass up an explosives detections system 
two years ago, TSA put the airport on 
notice. Without security upgrades, its 
commercial air service would be at risk.  
“(The terminal) 
looked its age,” 
acknowledges Justin 
Gosnell, who has 
been at LBF for 10 
years, including the 
past three as airport 
manager.
All of these challenges were erased in 
mid-August with the debut of an all-new, 
nearly $30 million passenger terminal just 
east of the building it replaced. Federal, 
state and local leaders heralded the single-
story, 24,000-square-foot development as 
the region’s most significant investment in 
commercial aviation infrastructure in decades.
Upgrades include the airport’s first 
passenger boarding bridge, larger 
restrooms and food and beverage service 
on both sides of the security checkpoint. 
There’s space for modern TSA equipment, 
and a 110-seat holdroom has ample room 
for the airport’s current passenger volume 
– as well as extra capacity should an airline 
add service with larger aircraft in the future. 
JUSTIN GOSNELL
North Platte Regional Replaces Old Terminal 
With Updated Version Built for Growth BY CHRIS JONES

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