Walker Field Airport Terminal Expansion to Open by End of March

March 3, 2004

Airport Terminal Expansion to Open by End of March
Grand Junction Sentinel, CO


Passengers waiting to board airplanes at Walker Field
Airport are about to get more room to roam. 

Construction crews are finishing work on an
8,000-square-foot addition to the terminal’s boarding
area that will accommodate two jet-loading bridges.
The $2.12 million expansion, which stretches north
from the existing boarding area, provides passengers
with a panoramic view of the airport and the
Bookcliffs. 

Only ticketed passengers who pass through the security
checkpoint will be allowed in the new boarding area
addition. 

“We’re ahead of schedule. We’ll be done by March 19,”
said Chad Nelson, superintendent for FCI Construction,
the project’s general contractor. 

Airport Manager Corinne Nystrom said the loading
bridges are scheduled to arrive in about two weeks,
and the boarding area will open once those bridges are
installed. 

She said the expansion is expected to be open by the
end of March. 

Loading bridges are movable, covered hallways that
extend from the building to an airplane’s door. 

The bridges to be installed at Walker Field are
designed to serve regional jets, which Nystrom said
are being used more often by airlines that serve the
airport. 

Currently, America West Express and United Express
each operate two daily regional-jet flights from Grand
Junction. Regional jets hold about 50 passengers and
can cover moderate distances between cities faster
than prop-driven aircraft can cover them. 

Nystrom said that the boarding-area expansion and the
loading bridges were suggested several years ago by
airlines, which anticipated increasing use of regional
jets at airports such as Walker Field. 

Currently, passengers boarding commercial aircraft at
Walker Field must walk outside across the concrete
apron and climb steps to board the aircraft. Nystrom
said loading bridges can be easier for elderly and
disabled passengers to use. 

Existing ground-level gates at the terminal will
remain for passengers who board aircraft that cannot
use the loading bridges, Nystrom said. 


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