Lincoln Airport Terminal Project Faces Delays

Dec. 2—Lincoln Airport officials had hoped to open the first phase of their terminal expansion project sometime next month, which would have meant more gates, streamlined security and more amenities for passengers.

But the project is behind schedule by about three months, so that won't be happening.

"A laundry list of things" are responsible for the delay, said Chad Lay, the airport's director of planning, but the main reason is supply chain issues.

Lay said there was a delay getting glass panels needed to enclose the 35,000-square-foot addition being constructed on the north side of the terminal, pushing the project back by about three months.

David Haring, executive director of the airport, said the goal now is to have the northern part of the terminal open by April.

A three-month delay "is actually pretty good for a project of this size," Haring said.

Opening the north part of the terminal will triple the number of gates, consolidate security and ticketing operations, and provide an upgraded restaurant and concessions area.

Aircraft currently are using two temporary gates on the south side of the terminal, which Haring said is working pretty well at the moment.

"Right now, I wouldn't say that we're having too many issues," he said.

The airport has just one airline at the moment, United Airlines, which offers a handful of daily flights to Chicago, Denver and Houston.

The once-daily Houston flight started in September and has been a huge success, Haring said.

He said the Houston flights were 74% full on average in September and 84% in October. For comparison sake, Haring said that when Delta Air Lines started flights from Lincoln to Atlanta in 2014, it took about six months for the flights to average a 75% passenger load.

"I think everybody's incredibly pleased to see how the Houston service has been doing," he said.

The airport is trying to get additional air service, possibly with a low-cost leisure carrier, but Haring said there is not likely to be any movement on that front in the next few months. However, if something did change and service was added, it would be difficult to accommodate it with the two temporary gates on the south side of the terminal, he said.

That being said, Haring said it's his strong preference not to open the new addition until everything is in place and ready to go.

"Obviously, because that's the passenger area, we want to make sure it's perfect before we open it up," he said.

Once the northern part of the terminal opens, construction will shift to the southern part, where there will still be roughly eight to 10 months of work left. That's mostly constructing administrative offices, but it also will include work on elements such as the baggage claim area and the rental car counter, Haring said.

Despite the delays and some unforeseen issues that have popped up — the Airport Authority on Thursday approved a change to Sampson Construction's manager at-risk contract, the fourth one since the project started — Haring said the project is still within its $55 million budget.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or [email protected].

On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.

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