Sep. 6--A former bar and restaurant on the second story of the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport will be turned into a part of the facility's passenger waiting area in a project scheduled to start before the end of the year.
The upgrade will add 43 seats for travelers who have cleared the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, for a total capacity of 110. The work is estimated to cost $250,000.
The 67 seats available now provide enough room for the 50-passenger aircraft of SkyWest, the airport's only commercial passenger airline, which goes between Lewiston and Salt Lake City three times a day, said airport Director Michael Isaacs.
That capacity has been more than adequate, even with COVID-19 social distancing protocols, partly because SkyWest is limiting the number of passengers on each flight to 32, Isaacs said.
But if the airport is successful in its plans to recruit more flights, he said, it will need more space so it can handle two flights at once or charters.
The airport recently hired a consultant to help it restore service to Seattle and Boise that was lost with the withdrawal of Alaska Airlines' Horizon Air two years ago or add new destinations.
"This will not only support our existing service at a higher level, but now we will have the additional secure area available to allow for any expansion to take place quicker and easier," airport authority board Chairman Gary Peters said in a text.
Preparations have already started for the upgrade.
The airport spent $47,000 on 24 seats with charging stations for electronic devices such as laptop computers.
Unlike the upholstered seating in other sections of the airport, the new chairs have hard surfaces, which makes them easier to clean, a feature that is especially important because of COVID-19, Isaacs said.
The remaining 19 chairs for the expansion will come from the baggage claim area, which will continue to have some seating.
A staircase will be built, linking the present first-floor waiting area behind security to the renovated second-floor space. An upstairs wall will be moved, giving passengers behind security access to at least one more bathroom that is already on the second floor.
The work is expected to be done early this spring.
Contributions from the airport's two owners are making the project possible. The city of Lewiston and Nez Perce County gave the airport $100,000 each.
The remaining $50,000 was part of $1.24 million the airport received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
Much of the coronavirus aid bill money ($249,000 in this fiscal year and $210,000 in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1) has been placed in the maintenance and operations budgets to make up for revenue lost from the dramatic decline in passengers because of the pandemic.
The rest is going for one-time expenses such as $120,000 for temporarily waiving landing fees and terminal lease payments if a new airline is recruited, $80,000 for marketing Lewiston flights and $295,000 to develop a southern part of the airport in its fenced area for new airplane hangars and aviation businesses.
"We are taking a proactive approach with every ounce of funding we receive, whether it's catch-up work in the terminal, improving airport infrastructure (or) developing the south side," Peters said.
Williams may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2261.
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