Editorial: Sacramento International Airport Facelift

Editorial: Airport Facelift
Bigger, more secure, but still friendly

Published 2:15 a.m. PST Wednesday, January 7, 2004
Sacramento Bee, CA

Sacramento International Airport needs an upgrade. Even before the 9/11 
terrorist attacks forced major security enhancements at all the nation's 
airports, Sacramento planned to boost capacity. Officials anticipate that 
traffic will increase from 8.8 million passengers today to between 18 million 
and 20 million by 2020. New security demands have only increased the urgency to 
expand and modernize.
Today, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will be asked to choose which 
three of six terminal modernization designs under review merit further study. 
It's an important decision. The challenge is to find the design that maximizes 
ease of use for passengers and airlines, meets enhanced security demands, makes 
the most of retail potential and is cost effective at the same time.


   
 While inadequate for today's needs, the current airport has some competitive 
advantages that supervisors won't want to sacrifice if at all possible. 
Compared to big urban airports, Sacramento International is easy to use. 
Passenger dropoffs and pickups are faster and walking distances to gates 
relatively short. It's also cheaper for airlines that fly into Sacramento -- 
less than $5 per passenger compared to $25 at San Francisco and Seattle, for 
example.

All six proposals under review would require replacement of obsolete Terminal 
B. Built in 1967, it has outlived its usefulness. All plans also would separate 
departure and arrival processes by creating multiple roadway levels, similar to 
schemes in use in many big urban airports. One proposal, which ranked high with 
planners, would incorporate an automated people mover.

Sacramento International is a key transportation facility for Northern 
California. It has a $2.4 billion annual economic impact in the region. To 
accommodate growth and the global challenges of the new century, it must 
change. Supervisors have an exciting opportunity before them: Make 
International not just bigger, but better.




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