"Palm Springs airport enplanements up, security enhanced"

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Palm Springs airport enplanements up, security improved
The Palm Springs (CA) Desert Sun


Three nonstop flights added to the schedule at Palm Springs International
Airport has boosted passenger traffic in the first quarter 13 percent over
last year. Richard Strickland, deputy director of the airport, said that the
healthy increase was chiefly due to flights to Atlanta, Denver and Houston.
"We solicited the airlines and with the help of the hospitality community we
were able to convince them to add the flights," said Strickland. Last Dec.
1, Delta Airlines began a nonstop to Atlanta; on Dec. 12 Continental
Airlines started service to Houston and the next day a nonstop flight to
Denver was added by United Express. 

Strickland credited the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors
Authority, the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism and group meeting hotels and
golf resorts for helping to get the flights started and promoted. For
instance, radio stations in Atlanta were able to give away free nights in
area hotels, golfing at exclusive valley resorts and meals in fine
restaurants as promotional inducements, said Strickland.

Since the December inauguration, Continental has flown 17,575 passengers
between Palm Springs and Houston, while Delta was handling 22,223 between
here and Atlanta.

United Express boasts a 46 percent increase in year-over-year flights with a
substantial portion of that attributable to the Denver flight, Strickland
indicated.

For the first quarter, the airport handled 451,046 passengers, up 13.33
percent over the 397,979 reported in the same period last year. March was a
strong month for all 11 carriers at the airport with Alaska Airlines
recording a 33 percent gain in traffic, American Airlines a 20 percent jump
and Northwest Airlines a 9 percent bump. Palm Springs International Airport
is the only commercial service airport in Riverside County. It serves 1.3
million passengers a year on 11 airlines with 60 daily departures. 

The curving roadway will be straightened and the lobby enlarged and
"hardened" in a plan approved recently to help the main terminal of the Palm
Springs International Airport withstand blasts. The Airport Commission voted
to recommend that the Palm Springs City Council approve the $5 million
project, about 90 percent of which will be covered by federal grants. As
outlined by the airport's executive director, Allen F. Smoot, the plan
envisions: 

The roadway in front of the terminal straightened and moved 100 feet from
the terminal from its current 15 feet. The glass front of the main lobby
moved out to the edge of the existing overhanging roof and blast-resistant
glass installed.

A barrier installed between the roadway and terminal to prevent vehicular
access to the structure. "(Our study showed) that the existing huge overhang
would actually force the energy of a blast right into the building and
destroy nine-tenths of the lobby," Smoot told the commissioners. 

Pushing the glass wall out will also greatly increase the size of the lobby,
which had become more cramped when the new security stations were installed
after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

As part of the strengthening of the building, new lateral supports will be
added that will have the added benefit of making the structure better able
to withstand earthquakes, said Smoot.

The plan also envisions adding a fabric overhang modeled after the existing
roof line to add shade. Smoot said the fabric would be the same as those
being installed at portes-cocheres - or projecting overhangs - found at the
Pentagon. Its elasticity helps absorb energy, he said. Smoot said he doesn't
expect construction to disrupt airport services.

Already under way as part of the security upgrades at the airport is a $7.7
million project to funnel all vehicle traffic through a new centralized
inspection plaza. The commission also approved a new agreement with the
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection required when the agency became a
part of the new Department of Homeland Security. But like many changes
associated with security enhancements at the airport, it came with an
enlarged price tag. 

Barry Griffith, assistant airport director, told commissioners the cost will
go from $95,000 a year to $115,000 for one inspector plus the cost of
equipment. The inspector primarily clears international flights coming to
Million Air and Signature, the two private, fixed-base operators at the
airport.


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