SPECIAL REPORT
Taking Control
By John F. Infanger, Editorial Director
Welcome to the era of the airports, say some
DENVER — Randy Boggus, a vice president with the consulting firm PGAL, echoes a growing sentiment in the industry that, “The era of the airlines has yielded to the era of the airports.” As airports and consultants met here for the annual ACC/AAAE Airport Planning, Design & Construction Symposium, topics discussed frequently involved what airports and designers need to do to help deal with the new realities of security as well as a changing airline industry.
Officials from the Transportation Security Administration also promoted the notion that airports need to be looking for solutions to security screening, as TSA attempts to allocate resources that are far less than estimates indicate. Roger Dickey of TSA says the agency has two basic “buckets” of money, one for equipment and one for installation. “From the day we started we’ve been $900 million to $1 billion in the hole,” he says, and the situation has not changed.
Attendees got details of Boston Logan International’s $146 million in-line baggage screening system, and heard how Tampa International is in the process of building a similar system with similar costs, they also were told that these systems are being funded up front by the airports, with hope of reimbursement from TSA. For more mainstream airports such as Dane County Regional in Madison, WI, says TSA’s Michael Duffy, the challenge is to get an efficient and effective system in place while not counting on money from the feds. Madison, he says, represents a situation in which officials very effectively designed an in-line screening system, only to be told the money wasn’t available. It was up to officials there to come up with an alternative plan, which is now being implemented via lobby redesign and ETDs.
One caution from Boggus: ETD and EDS machines are likely to get larger before they get smaller.
Thoughts On Design
Robert Maruster of Delta Air-lines, like others, calls for a radical new design in the security throughput process, one that increases capacity in handling. At the same time, he sees changes coming at other parts of the airport as well. “I think the next big frontier is design at gates,” he says. “How do we get more money per square foot from that space?”
Maruster says the traditional linear setup of ticketing counters needs to go away, in particular because of the overwhelming acceptance by customers of check-in kiosks. He says the kiosks would likely be even more popular if they had been part of the original design at airports.
Outside the facility, says Marus-ter, “We’d like curbside to become a one-stop shop” for customers, who would be able to get first-class upgrades and other administrative functions. He estimates that some 35 percent of local customers at Delta’s Atlanta hub use curbside check-in.
CUTE systems, meanwhile, remain part of the airport/airline design debate. Airports worldwide are using or installing common use terminal equipment; however, some airlines, notably Southwest, still resist the change. McCarran International in Las Vegas was one U.S. airport cited as being in the process of installing common use equipment throughout its facility.
Comments Southwest’s Amy Weaver, “We really don’t have a strong case.” Yet, the low-fare carrier sees CUTE systems as a threat to Southwest’s differentiation from other airlines, she says. “We’re spending money to be different,” she explains, “and then we have to spend money to be the same.
“If airports impose this on us, we’re going to show our claws and resist.”
Yet, at DFW International, says Kevin Smith, CUTE systems help ensure gate availability to new entrant carriers. And, he says, it costs DFW as much as $150,000 to change signage when an airline exits.
