HIGHFILL — It was 95 degrees at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport on a recent day as Wayne Barnes walked and tugged his luggage toward the airport’s farthest parking area - the economy lot.
The distance from the airport terminal’s front door to the economy lot’s first space stretches about 300 yards, according to the parking lot map. But on a hot day, the trek can seem farther to some travelers.
Asked how Barnes was enjoying his sizzling march, the Bentonville resident grimaced and said, “Well, it’s not the most pleasant thing.”
Another person plodding toward the economy lot took a more positive view. “I think it’s worth it to save dollars,” said Carol Vella of Pea Ridge.
As Arkansas’ second-largest airport grows, the complex opened a new $20 million wing Sept. 1, 2011, and hopes to start construction on a three-story parking garage in the next two to three years.
However, the airport doesn’t offer shuttle or other transportation to its parking lots. It also has no covered walkway to shelter pedestrians from the elements as they make their way to their vehicles.
The cost has been prohibitive, airport directors say.
Airport managers do hear occasional complaints from walkers, especially when they get caught in rain or thunderstorms.
Executive director Scott Van Laningham said airport managers have looked at the issue. They learned it would cost more than $400,000 a year to run a shuttle operation. That’s costly for a parking operation that will generate about $3.3 million this year, he said. Parking is the airport’s biggest money-maker.
“People think you get a couple of vans [to start shuttle service], but it’s not that simple,” Van Laningham said. “You need to run the operation at least 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. It would take at least three vans.”
Building a covered walkway for pedestrians to the parking lots was estimated several years ago at more than $1 million, said airport Director Kelly Johnson. And she said that walkway estimate included only overhead cover. “You really need protection on the sides, too, when rain is blowing,” she said.
While the nation’s largest airports usually provide free shuttle service or trains to their parking, airports similar in size to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport have to make tougher choices.
The Northwest Arkansas airport ranked 112th in the nation in 2011 in number of boarding passengers, or 538,850 enplanements, according to Federal Aviation Administration figures.
Interviews and checks of websites of five similar-size airports in the nation’s southeast and Texas show only one offered free shuttle service to parking lots. That was Preston Smith International Airport in Lubbock, Texas.
At least two other airports, Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, Ala., and Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky., have covered walkways to parking areas. All three of those airports, plus the Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport in Virginia, have parking garages that provide protection. But parking in those garages is generally pricier than long term or economy parking.
By comparison, the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field in Little Rock offers free shuttle service to long-term parking lots and has a parking deck. It has about twice as many boarding passengers as Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and was ranked 85th nationally last year.
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport does have a couple of options to help passengers for whom the long walk is especially difficult.
The airport started red cap service in 2000, which allows travelers to park their cars curbside, unload luggage and check it through. They can also drop off carry-on luggage, leaving their hands free to handle children on the walk to the terminal. The only charge is tips for the baggage handlers.
“That way if you have a family traveling with a lot of luggage and small children, they can pull up to the curb, check their luggage, then go park their car,” Van Laningham said.
Also, travelers who are elderly or who have difficulty walking occasionally collar airport police and ask for rides to their cars. “And we provide that,” Van Laningham said. “We are here to help our passengers.”
Still, most travelers at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and other similar-size airports have to choose what’s more important. Do they walk farther and brave the elements to a long-term or economy lot to save money? Or do they pay up for a shorter trek?
An airline passenger who parks a car in the nearest short-term parking spaces at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport walks a relatively short 75 yards from the terminal door, according to the airport’s parking lot map. That traveler also pays up to $14 a day.
Economy is the farthest lot, with its most distant parking spaces measuring almost 400 yards from the terminal. But the price is just $5 a day.
John Vettraino of Detroit flies into the airport every couple of weeks to sell food products to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville. He also flies into other airports, racking up about 160 flights each year.
“It’s not that far a walk compared to other smaller airports,” he said. “My only complaint is that there’s no covered walkway” to parking.
“You’d think that the central walkway could be covered to protect from sun and inclement weather,” Vettraino said.
But given the choice, Vettraino opts for cheaper parking and a walk, even in rain or freezing weather.
He compared Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to Bishop International Airport in Flint, Mich., which is similar in size and has no shuttle service to parking lots.
“They have a long, flat parking area too,” he said. “You can park close, if you want to pay an exorbitant amount. Or you can save a little money and take the walk.”
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 07/30/2012