"Now arriving in Philadelphia's Terminal E"

Sunday, May 9, 2004

Now arriving in Terminal E
Southwest Airlines renovated and rejuvenated a dim spot at the Phila.
airport.
By Tom Belden
The Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer


Once forlorn and practically forgotten, Terminal E has suddenly become
the hottest piece of real estate at Philadelphia International Airport.

With Southwest Airlines starting service today from four gates at the
end of the E concourse, passenger traffic through the terminal is likely
to double in the second half of the year. The terminal has an enlarged
security checkpoint, a new ticketing area for Southwest, a new look to
the gate area Southwest will occupy, and, of interest to hungry
travelers, a new Krispy Kreme doughnut shop.

For anyone nostalgic about Veterans Stadium, a row of 10 former Vet
seats was being placed last week along one wall in the concourse,
beneath a sports-themed mural. Southwest already has become the official
airline of the Flyers, Phillies and Sixers.

The Terminal E changes made so far are only the beginning, too, airport
officials say. During the next two years or so, the airport plans to
spend about $100 million to add more gates, triple the size of the
security checkpoint, and add more concessions, all in anticipation of
Southwest's expected growth.

Southwest is starting with 14 daily round-trip flights to six cities and
will expand that to 28 round-trips a day to 13 cities on July 6, the
most service the discount airline has ever offered from a new city.

With the expanded service, at least 5,000 more passengers a day could be
using Terminal E, based on how popular Southwest expects the service to
be. That number could easily increase by 160 or more passengers a day
for every round-trip flight Southwest adds to its Philadelphia schedule.

"We think we have tremendous growth opportunities in Philadelphia," Gary
C. Kelly, Southwest's executive vice president and chief financial
officer, told Wall Street analysts recently. "Demand is very, very
strong."

According to airport statistics, about 5,500 passengers a day took off
or landed last year on flights operated by Terminal E's other tenants:
Midwest Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Delta's
marketing and service partners, Air France and two commuter carriers,
according to airport records. That compares with more than 13,000
passengers a day who use Terminal B.

The other airlines did not have much to say last week about the way
Southwest is changing the neighborhood. "We have no comment on
Southwest," snapped a spokeswoman for Northwest, which uses three
Terminal E gates. Delta, which uses four gates, did not return phone
calls seeking comment.

Southwest's low fares, which have been matched by US Airways and other
carriers, are expected to increase demand for all airlines that compete
with the discounter, city Aviation Director Charles J. Isdell said.

"We could have an all-time passenger record in 2004," he said. Last
year, the airport had 24.7 million passengers.

On the E concourse last week, John Minor, Southwest's new Philadelphia
station manager, and Don Ostler, a Baltimore-based facilities manager
for Southwest, showed off the work the airline did to transform the area
around its four gates at the far end of the concourse. Southwest built a
service counter across the central corridor, and it has its logo
splashed throughout, including on every seat in its waiting areas and
over the counter. The ex-Vet seats are along one short wall that is
perpendicular to the main corridor.

Southwest chose to locate in Terminal E for several reasons, Minor said.
Because the airline aims to unload one planeload of passengers, load
another one, and taxi out for takeoff in less than 30 minutes - half the
time most airlines take - Southwest liked Terminal E's location close to
the airport's departure runways, he said.

Southwest also liked Terminal E because the concourse itself is wider
than others of the same vintage at the airport. The terminal was
designed in the 1970s for use by wide-body jets that often carry 250 or
more passengers.

Because Southwest has no reserved seats on its flights, customers line
up in groups to board planes. "We like a lot of queueing space for
passengers," Ostler said.

Minor is a California native who spent most of his 29-year career as an
airline manager with US Airways and PSA, a regional airline US Airways
bought in 1988. Minor, who came to Southwest in 1999, said his staff of
almost 100 employees was eager to get service under way.

All but 10 of Southwest's Philadelphia employees already worked for the
company at other airports and chose to transfer here because they, too,
wanted to be part of the airline's biggest expansion in years, Minor
added.

The first major change in Terminal E that departing travelers will
notice is the larger security-screening area, operated by the federal
Transportation Security Administration. Airport chief of staff Jeff
Shull said about $500,000 was spent on the enhancement, which increased
the number of screening lanes from three to four and enclosed the area
where passengers wait in line. In the past, usually only two of those
lanes were used.

"We think with the additional lane we're going to be able to handle the
people going through there," said William Leahy, the TSA director in
Philadelphia.

Shull said one innovative aspect of the screening area is decidedly
low-tech and low cost. At Southwest's urging, TSA added two or three
rectangular tables to each lane, which passengers use to unload pockets,
remove coats and shoes, and pull laptop computers from their bags.

"Southwest is a big proponent of this," Shull said. "The more table
space you give the passenger, the faster the flow rate through the
checkpoint."

The expansion of the screening area has reduced the corridor space in
the terminal, just before the screening area, but that will change
during the next two years, Shull said. "What's there now is not the
ultimate solution," he said.

The $100 million project is scheduled for completion by early 2006,
using funds from previous bond issues and from the $4.50 facilities
charge paid as part of a ticket by each departing airline passenger. The
project will create a security-screening area with 12 to 14 lanes and
add about 20,000 square feet of space for restaurants, bars, newsstands
and other shops.

The project also includes the construction of a rotunda at the end of
Terminal E that will add three more gates to the concourse.

Finally, Terminal E has a distinction that Krispy Kreme says is a first
for an airport anywhere: its own doughnut store. The shop opened
Wednesday outside the terminal's secured area, at the end of the bridge
from the parking garages and bag-claim area and across a corridor from
the airport's administrative offices. It is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
daily and also sells coffee and other beverages.

"We've been talking to the airport awhile" about where it would locate
its first airport store, said Bruce Walton, vice president of operations
for Freedom Rings L.L.C., the Krispy Kreme regional franchisee. "This
just seemed like the right one, with Southwest coming in."


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