Airport panel briefed on plans for concourse revamp

Airline passengers wait for their flights in a holding area at the end of the concourse at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field in Little Rock on Tuesday. The Customer Service Taskforce of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission met Tuesday to hear a presentation of proposed renovations to the concourse.
Airline passengers wait for their flights in a holding area at the end of the concourse at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field in Little Rock on Tuesday. The Customer Service Taskforce of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission met Tuesday to hear a presentation of proposed renovations to the concourse.

More than $17.6 million in proposed improvements unveiled Tuesday for the aging concourse at the state's largest airport will include new boarding bridges and gate furniture, more power outlets to keep passengers' smartphones and other electronic devices charged, and what is billed as the fastest free Wi-Fi service at a U.S. airport.

The work, when completed next year, is designed to build on a nearly finished $69 million makeover of the passenger terminal and will improve amenities until Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field is ready to take on a $100 million plan to replace the concourse.

Airport staff has "identified how we can improve customer service at the airport," Ron Mathieu, the airport's executive director, said Tuesday during a briefing for the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission's customer service task force. "We're very excited about where we are and what we're proposing."

While some commission members welcomed the improvements, they expressed reservations about the way airport staff has proposed funding the work, given the decline in passengers at the airport and the unsteady state of the aviation industry.

The airport staff wants to commit future passenger facility charges to pay for the project. The $4.50 passenger facility charge is a federally mandated charge for every ticket purchased for a flight from Clinton National. The airport collects about $4 million annually from the charge but must secure approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to spend the money.

Airport staff already has committed the charges annually through about 2019 on other projects. The concourse proposal would commit an additional five years of passenger facility charge revenue. The airport typically pays for the project costs out of general airport revenue, then seeks reimbursement from the passenger facility charges.

Mathieu told members of the commission's customer service task force that the costs of the proposed project eventually could be rolled into a bond issue to finance the new concourse. The bonds would then be paid back with a combination of airport revenue and passenger facility charges, he said.

One commission member, Tom Schueck, said he preferred that the airport be more "frugal," given the consolidation of airlines and Southwest Airlines cutting flights at Clinton National, as well as the 5 percent decline in passenger traffic this year.

But Mathieu insisted the plan was "conservative" and noted that even as passenger traffic declined, the airport continued to rake in record revenue -- about $13 million last year.

Schueck disagreed with Mathieu's assessment of the plan. "This is scary," he responded.

Jesse Mason, the commission chairman, said the airport must do something in the interim. "We can't go 5½ years without making any improvements."

The commission has said it wouldn't pursue a new concourse without two triggers: Passenger boardings must reach 1.5 million annually, up from about 1 million per year now, and Congress must raise the passenger facility charge to $7 per ticket purchased for a Clinton National departure.

Eric Petersen, a principal with Architectural Alliance, the Minneapolis-based architecture, interiors and planning firm that designed the heavily remade terminal that was dedicated last year, said the concourse and its furniture date to 1969. It was last renovated from 2003-05.

The design team developed a "value-based" concept for the concourse that delivers "maximum input at minimal cost," he said.

Many of the costs of the project won't be immediately evident to passengers. They include a new roof for the concourse and other behind-the-scenes work, such as the additional electrical work.

But new flooring, lighting and signage are also part of the proposed improvements and will complement the existing upgrades in the terminal. And the upgraded Wi-Fi would be faster than Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, which is considered to have the fastest free airport Wi-Fi now, Mathieu said.

Together, those concourse improvements would cost about $8.4 million, according to preliminary estimates.

Airport staff also wants to replace some or all of the passenger boarding bridges at the airport's 12 gates. Some belong to the airport, and some belong to the airlines. Airport staff wants the airport to eventually own all of them and be able to lease them to the airlines.

A passenger boarding bridge can cost up to $500,000, said Bryan Malinowski, the airport's deputy executive director. Twelve would cost about $7 million, a figure that includes some ramp improvements to accommodate the newer bridges.

Parts of the concourse improvement project have already been started, and other parts have been completed. They include checkpoint-area roofing and repairs to fix leaks, additional restrooms at Gate 5, and mechanical improvements. All told, they will cost about $3 million.

Other improvements in the proposal include restroom renovations for $641,000 and passenger seating for $1,385,000.

One commission member, Bob East, said that even if the improvements come to pass, they won't address what leads to passenger dissatisfaction: lines at the security checkpoint and airline service. "I'm not against this, but it's the cost; it's the hassle," East said. "To me, it's not all about having a great airport."

Airport staff wants to present a more refined proposal as soon as next month's meeting, but East insisted that the staff include a more detailed breakdown of the costs.

Metro on 08/20/2014

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