"Tampa Int'l Airport's New Airside E: Comfort, safety first"

Sunday, October 6, 2002 

Comfort, safety first
>From baggage handling to security screening, Airside E aims to please.
By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer
The St. Petersburg (FL) Times


TAMPA -- Workers broke ground for Tampa International Airport's new
Airside E three months before last year's terrorist attacks, but much of
what the terminal offers seems designed for air travel in the post-Sept.
11 age. 

When it opens next week, the first new gate complex at TIA in seven
years will devote considerably more room and more science to the
searching, scanning and X-raying of passengers and their bags than the
terminal it replaces, Airside C. 

There are five security arches and X-ray complexes at Airside E,
including one that will accommodate wheelchairs, among the first of its
kind in the country. There is also an X-ray machine for shoes. 

The $120-million, 350,000-square-foot project also comes equipped with
state-of-the-art baggage handling and passenger information systems, not
to mention embalmed palm trees. 

Airport officials say that in both design and function Airside E is
intended to make passengers as comfortable as possible while recognizing
safety and security requirements of a world concerned with terrorism. 

"It's an amazing facility, especially compared to Airside C, which is a
35-year-old building," said Louis Miller, executive director of the
Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. "One key improvement is getting
security and the gates on the same level so passengers don't have to
negotiate a narrow escalator with bags and kids." 

The new airside will be home to Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Air
Canada. Of the facility's 14 gates, Delta has nine, United two and Air
Canada one. Two gates are available for expansion or charters. 

Because of security restrictions, only ticketed passengers will see the
airside once it goes into operation. To give everyone a sneak preview,
TIA is holding a public open house on Saturday, during which visitors
will be able to buy a hot dog, a bag of chips and a soft drink for $1. 

After a grand opening Oct. 14, at which Gov. Jeb Bush will appear,
Airside E will swing into operation Oct. 15. That evening, Delta flights
scheduled to remain overnight in Tampa will discharge passengers into
Airside E. The next day, the three airlines will conduct all operations
from the new building. 

"We are absolutely on time and absolutely on budget," said Frank
Fralick, group president of Beers Skanska, the principal contractor on
the site. 

Airside E is served by two shuttles. Each has two cars, and each car has
a capacity of 80. The new cars are virtually identical to those at other
airsides. Newer technology was available, but "we wanted everything to
be compatible and interchangeable," said John Housley Jr., manager for
Bombardier Transportation, which built the shuttle system. 

Passengers leaving the shuttle will step into the tallest of TIA's
airsides, with a ceiling peak of 48 feet. The roof of the concourse area
slopes down to 42.5 feet to give air traffic controllers a clear view of
activity around the terminal. 

The carpeting is custom designed, predominantly blue and black with some
purple and green, meant to represent coral reefs. The principal tile is
Atlantic blue with grout lines of just 1/16th-inch so that wheeled bags
won't thump along. 

For families that arrive the requisite two hours early and find
themselves waiting with young children for their flight, there is an
aviation-themed playroom for the kids, with climbing apparatus and
slides and simulated aircraft to sit in. The walls and ceiling are
painted with murals, and the voice of Charlie Brown narrates the history
of flight. 

Baggage handling is fully automated. Each checked bag gets a tag with a
bar code indicating its flight. It is carried on a belt directly to
Airside E, where the bar code is scanned by a laser, which directs the
bag to go to the pier serving the appropriate gate. 

At each of its nine gates, Delta has installed kiosks that display not
only the flight's status, but the weather at the destination and the
list of standby passengers. As standbys are cleared to board, their
names change status on the board, and they go right to the gate,
bypassing the ticket agents. 

"We have the system installed in other cities, and the customer feedback
is phenomenal," said Katie Connell, spokeswoman for Delta. "We hadn't
put them in here before because we knew we were leaving Airside C soon."


The restaurants were carefully chosen, too. 

Casa Bacardi, developed with the rum company, has a Latin/Caribbean
theme. DaVinci's offers a gourmet deli. Frankly Gourmet prepares hotdogs
in ways few have imagined. The Quick Connect offers sandwiches and
salads. And there is, of course, the ubiquitous Starbucks. 

Because financial considerations have forced most airlines to forego
meal service and curtail beverage service, several restaurants in
Airside E will offer meals to go on board. 

Shops include the Tampa Bay Trading Co. for gifts, books and newspapers,
Signatures, Etc., for pens, stationery and supplies for business
travelers, and a duty-free shop for Air Canada passengers. 

"Developing concessions is a learning experience," said Ron Gomes,
senior director for business development for HMS Host, which operates
most of the concessions at TIA. "A group on the food side (of Host)
measures market trends, which categories are growing fastest. Lately
it's been fresh alternatives and deli. Then we look at which airlines
the terminal serves and their customer base, whether the flights are
long or short, business or leisure. Delta is heavy on business travel." 

Perched above everything on the north half of the terminal is Delta's
new 9,000-square-foot Crown Room for VIP passengers. It is more than
twice the size of the 3,900-square-foot facility at Airside C. A second
VIP facility hangs above the south half of the terminal ready if another
tenant ever wants its own private room. 

In case it is ever necessary to evacuate the terminal, five emergency
exits have three flights of extra-wide stairs down to the apron. 

And oh, yes, about those embalmed palm trees. The airside designers
thought that as bright as the building is, there was not enough sun to
allow for healthy live palm trees, so they bought trees that have been
preserved in a non-toxic chemical process. During the transformation,
the trees exchange their natural fluids for the chemical and stay fresh
for years. 

The irony is that the preservation company is in California, and the
palms going into this Florida airport actually are California trees. 

While Airside E is the first new gate facility since Airside A opened in
1995, it won't be the last. As soon as Delta is satisfied that all is
working well in its new home, airport officials will begin demolition
and reconstruction of Airside C. The new building will be completed in
2005, with Southwest Airlines as the principal tenant. 

When United and Air Canada leave Airside D next week, only the low-fare
carriers, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines and AirTran will remain. This has
allowed airport officials and the federal Transportation Security
Administration to empty the second level to create more room for
screening and security, which has been severely cramped in the
32-year-old building. 

It has also allowed HMS Host to design new shops and restaurants on the
lower level, nearer the gates, where people could stay longer and not
worry about missing their flights. 

Kevin Keane, the Host general manager at TIA, said the new concessions
will be open by November. 

Airside D will be torn down and replaced after work is completed on the
new Airside C. 

At the same time Airside C is demolished, Airside B will come down. That
facility hasn't been used since the demise of Eastern Airlines. The
space that the terminal occupies today will be turned into much needed
overnight parking for the airlines. 

"After we finish with B, C and D, it will be the end of the airside work
for a while," said Miller, the aviation authority director. "We just
remodeled F, and A is new." 

By the time the airsides need more work, the authority probably will be
involved in building a second terminal complex, the mirror image of the
current hub-and-spoke system, directly to the north. That is expected
some time after 2015. 

Some facts about Airside E:

   * Will handle 47 daily flights with 7,595 seats to 15 destinations. 

   * Will be decorated with 500 live and preserved plants. 

   * Contains 8,800 cubic yards of concrete, 1,250 tons of steel, 18,000
square feet of window walls, 42,500 square feet of tile and 11,100
square feet of carpet. 

   * Occupancy capacity is 5,196. 

   * There are 1,589 chairs and 30 telephone kiosk seats in the waiting
area. 

   * There are two smoking lounges. 

Open house

Get a preview of the new Airside E at TIA's public open house, Saturday,
Oct. 12 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Parking is free in the remote economy lot.


Attached Photo's:

With a 48-foot ceiling peak, Airside E is TIA's tallest. It is served by
two shuttles.

Scott Severino of Dr. Doodle Inc. paints in the playroom, which will
have climbing apparatus and simulated aircraft.

Designers felt there wasn't enough sun for live palm trees, so embalmed
trees, from California, are going in. They have been preserved in a
non-toxic chemical process.

Workers are still busy with construction even though the airside's grand
opening is scheduled for Oct. 14.

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