Business View Magazine | December 2020

235 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2020 L INCOLN A I RPORT expectations and future needs, reinforcing the vitality of the Airport as a community asset for years to come.” The revitalization of the Lincoln Airport Terminal is not a new revelation. “A terminal project has been talked about at different points for the last 20 years,” explains Haring, “and in each case it’s been kicked down the road a bit. We are at a point now where our existing facility is 46 years old and, while structurally sound, it is starting to show the challenges that exist with a ‘70s era facility in a modern commercial aviation world. It’s a split building with two gates on one side of the building and two gates on the other side of the building, both served by two separate checkpoints that were never contemplated when the facility was originally constructed. There is no connectivity between the two ends, and up until recently, there were no food or beverage services within the gate areas, meaning individuals would have to leave security to obtain those services. While the TSA provides adequate staffing for both checkpoints at this time, staffing calculations are based on total passengers, as opposed to total checkpoints, so continues to be a very real concern that a drop in passengers could leave the Airport with insufficient staffing for both checkpoints. As is the case with many small airports, passengers in Lincoln like the convenience of being able to arrive for their flight within a very tight window. Unfortunately, during our pre pandemic morning rush when 4 flights were leaving within 30 minutes of each other and both checkpoints were in full operation, we were starting to see the significant constraints of our existing layout as passengers were occasionally missing flights due to longer than expected security screening.” Chad Lay, Director of Planning and Development was tasked with creating a terminal revitalization plan, the original intent being a short-term fix for these critical areas. After looking at the various options, it was quickly apparent that there was no inexpensive, short- term fix. Creating a single checkpoint, making