Nationwide Airport Expansions Are Good News For Construction Companies
There are over 5,200 public airports in the U.S., and many are undergoing expansions and renovations that include improvements in airport security and access roads, enhancements in capacity demands and environmental protections, terminal additions, and increases to passenger services. The Federal Aviation Administration has developed a program to fund these projects for those airports that meet specific traffic standards and whose expansions are in the national interest.
This funding is available via a bipartisan infrastructure law called the Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It was signed by President Biden in November 2021, and allocates $15 billion of this funding for airport expansions over a five-year period.
The expansions and renovations are vital due to the rapid growth of air travel and differing needs of travelers that contrasts with the outdated or decaying conditions of many of the country’s airports. In fact, many U.S. airports have undergone little change since the 1970s, despite increases in air traffic and passengers. The coronavirus pandemic exposed the cracks in the neglect of the country’s aging airports, which lost $40 billion in revenue in 2021, according to Airports Council International.
That is changing, however, with 85 U.S. airports benefiting from the infrastructure bill that will fund terminal improvements and airport expansions and other upgrades, with the goal of making air travel safer, more accessible, and more efficient. It will also create massive job opportunities for those living in the communities around them. Seventy grants are slated for terminal capacity expansion, 76 grants will be used for increased terminal sustainability, and 73 grants will be used to improve airport access to travelers with disabilities. Those airports that have missed out on the first ‘round of funding will have five years to apply or reapply.
It wasn’t just Covid-19 that shown the light on the deficiencies in U.S. airports. In April 2024, Skytrax released its annual ranking of the best airports worldwide and no U.S. airport made the top 20.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill may change that bleak picture over the next few years, as airports across the country – large to small – benefit from the $15 billion in improvements funding. Here are highlights of some of the biggest projects slated for renovations and expansions at the nation’s busiest airports:
San Diego
San Diego International Airport (SAN) is one of the busiest single-runway airports in the U.S. and is constructing a new Terminal 1 to replace the current one, with a completion date target of 2025. The aim is to allow for better connections with service transports for the over 2.5 million passengers who pass through the airport each year, as well as new boarding gates for a total of 19 gates. In addition, the expansion will feature high-profile restaurants, bars, and shops. The estimated project cost upon completion in 2028 is estimated at $2.6 billion.
Denver
Denver International Airport (DEN) is the third largest airport in the U.S. It has added 39 new gates (for a total of 148), which has increased the terminal’s capacity by 30 percent. Currently, the expansion project is in phase 2, and includes the construction of the Great Hall, a $1.3 billion project that began in 2018 and will feature a new security checkpoint, escalators, and improved services for passengers and those people who are picking up travelers. The Great Hall project Is expected to be completed by 2028.
Austin
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) boasts of 99 active airlines, 612 served routes, and 15 countries reached. Its estimated $2 billion capacity development project will include new passenger spaces, an increase in the number of gates, a new baggage handling system, and various infrastructure interventions, including a 20-gate wing at Concourse B and an underground tunnel that will connect to the main terminal.
Loudon County/Fairfax County
Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C. has secured $20 million to replace existing ground loading positions, with 14 loading bridges on the Tier 2 Concourse, as well as replace gates on the eastern end of Concourse A, which serves United Airlines, so that passengers will no longer have to go outside to access their planes. This project will connect to the Dulles Aerotrain, and indirectly to the public Metro Silver Line at Dulles. In addition, the new concourse will be four times larger than its current facility and include new concessions, restrooms, offices, and aircraft service areas.
Portland
Portland International Airport (PDX) is involved in a $2 billion project called PDX Next, slated for completion in 2025. It includes a new main terminal that will double the size of the ticketing and lobbying area, and wider corridors lined with trees, local shops, and restaurants, which is being promoted as “less of an airport and more like a neighborhood.” A pre-security area includes a “Pacific Northwest experience” such as a Douglas fir timber roof in an area called The Garden and a “hike” up a flight of stairs designed to look similar to a mountain such as nearby Mount Hood. A new Concourse Connector is also slated to open in 2025 to improve the current long walk between security and Concourses C and D.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the second busiest airport in the U.S. with 65.9 million passengers passing through in 2022 alone. The airport has an ambitious $30 billion investment plan that began over 14 years ago and includes a $1.6 billion modernization of Terminals 4 and 5. Completion is expected in 2027 and promises a centralized area for ticketing, check-ins, and baggage claim. In addition, modernization projects projected at $2.3 billion are also underway for Terminals 2 and 3, as well as a $2.6 billion project known as an automated “people mover,” designed to take people between different terminals as well as the city’s rail system called the LAX/Metro Transit Center Station, and a $1.3 billion project that includes a consolidated structure for car rental companies that will house 18,000 vehicles.
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) completed its first phase of renovations in 2020 that included a new parking garage, terminal and two concourses. Now it is working on its second phase that includes new concourses and gates, including Delta’s new Concourses A and B, scheduled to be completed in 2024.
San Francisco
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is in the process of completing its International Terminal that can double the capacity of passengers, and will include refurbished gates, restrooms, and lounge furnishings. It has also updated its North Ticketing Lobby at its Harvey Milk Terminal 1, which cost $1.36 billion.
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) is constructing a new, $14 billion terminal that is scheduled to open in 2025. It will include outdoor terraces in both the pre- and post-security areas.
Queens
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is undergoing a major $19 billion transformation that includes a new international terminal that replaces Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, which broke ground in 2022 and is scheduled to open in 2026. The new terminal will also replace Terminals 6 and 7, projected to be completed in 2028. In addition, Terminals 4 and 8 will also be renovated. Rail lines, such as the Long Island Railroad and the MTA’s A, E, J and Z subway lines will connect to the airports AirTrain in order to move people seamlessly.
In addition to JFK, LaGuardia Airport (LGA), also located in Queens, has undergone an $8 billion renovation that has essentially transformed it into a brand-new airport that includes new Terminals B and C.
Dallas/Ft. Worth
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is undergoing a $4.8 billion renovation that is designed to increase its passenger and flight capacity. It includes a new 15-gate Terminal F that will take place between 2024 and 2026 and will cost $1.63 billion. In addition, Terminal C, the largest national hub for American Airlines, will undergo renovations that include moving columns, increasing ceiling heights, and letting in more natural light. The cost for Terminal C is estimated at $2.72 billion and is scheduled to be completed by 2028 and is part of a wider plan to handle the airport’s growing passenger flow that is projected to grow to 100 million travelers by 2030.
Orlando
Orlando International Airport (MCO) is considered the 7th largest airport worldwide. Its newly completed Terminal C has increased capacity by more than 10 million passengers at a cost of $2.8 billion and includes technology improvement such as facial recognition at gates and automated TSA checkpoints. In addition, $69 million in federal funding will include new connections to high-speed rail, expanded parking facilities, a pedestrian bridge and a rental car lobby. A Terminal Link people mover allows passengers to transfer between Terminals A, B and C and operates 24 hours a day.
Kansas City
Kansas City International Airport (MCI) has a new single terminal of one million square feet and 39 gates, costing $1.5 billion, and includes new eateries and lounges, and a sensory room for those passengers who may be neurodivergent or have sensory differences or dementia and might feel anxious about flying. The new terminal replaces the demolished Terminal A, and closed Terminals B and C.
Boston
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) is modernizing and expanding Terminal E, its international terminal, which includes four new gates and a new 320,000 square foot addition, at a cost of $12 million. The upgrades are projected to make the terminal more sustainable, with less water waste and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as special solar panels to make it more energy efficient. Terminal C will connect to Terminal B, post security, to improve curbside traffic flow and protection from the elements.
Chicago
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) is in the midst of a $12.1 billion overhaul aimed at modernizing the airport and involves a decade long plan that includes the completion of Terminal 5’s expansion and construction on two satellite courses that will allow Terminal 2 to be demolished and replaced by a new Global Terminal for domestic and international flights. In addition, an interior remodel of the airport’s International Terminal 3, costing $200 million, will add three new gates, increase passenger space, streamline TSA security checkpoints, upgrade baggage areas, revamp restrooms, and enlarge new concession spaces. Plus, the new six-story parking garage that is under construction can be traveled to and from via the Airport Transit System, saving passengers steps.
Baltimore
Terminal improvements at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), which began in 2022, is expected to be completed by 2026 at an estimated cost of $332 million. It includes an advanced luggage system, a direct connection between Concourses A and B, upgraded restrooms, and new dining and shopping concessions.
Seattle/Tacoma
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is expanding its C Concourse with a budget of $340 million and a completion date of 2027. The project will involve building four new floors on top of the existing building and is part of a $4.6 billion plan called Upgrade SEA, which will also include new membership lounges in Concourse A and the SEA Gateway Project with improved ticketing services, check-in, and baggage check. New sit-down dining facilities and the first beer and wine garden in a U.S. airport are already completed.
San Antonio
San Antonio International Airport (SAT) is involved in a major development that begins this year and is projected to elevate the airport’s ability to handle its growing number of passengers by its completion in 2028. At a cost of $2.5 billion, the project includes a new terminal that will be the size of its current terminals combined, and will feature 17 gates, expansive passenger departure and arrival lanes, and enhanced club lounges.
St. Louis
St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) will break ground in 2026 on a $3 billion expansion that includes a single terminal with 62 gates, replacing two terminals that housed 54 gates. The new terminal will also increase concession and retail space by 60 percent and add 6,000 more parking spaces. The goal is to complete work by 2031.
Des Moines
At a cost of $445 million, Des Moines International Airport (DSM) is involved in an expansion project that will add six more gates (for a total of 18), and replace and expand security areas, gate operations, passenger arrivals and departures, and baggage handling systems, as well as improve dining and retail choices.
Norfolk
Norfolk International Airport (ORF) is breaking ground on a $650 million improvement project that will see the return of its moving sidewalk – taken out several years ago – that spans a 300-foot-long sky bridge, which will be a plus for passengers, in particular the many disabled veterans who live in Hampton Roads, an area that is surrounded by 12 military bases. Construction will also begin on the expansion of Concourse A, home to American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Allegiant Air. The project will include three new gates, larger hold rooms, and pet relief areas, with the ability to add more gates if needed. In addition, a new on-site hotel, The Courtyard by Marriot, will also be built at the airport’s north short-term parking lot, as well as a new International Processing Facility for Customs and Border Patrol, additional airlines, a combined area for ticketing and baggage, and an expanded consolidation of TSA security area. The airport also hopes to build a dedicated rental car facility, improved restaurant menus, a play area for children, and a new cell phone waiting lot.
Houston
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), one of the only airports in the Americas 
to travel to every continent, has launched a $1.3 billion construction project in order to improve services for its 20 million passengers. It includes modernizing Terminal D that houses United Airlines with 22 main gates for larger planes and 18 regional jet gates, baggage control improvement, and new VIP areas, checkpoints, and baggage handling. In addition, there will be 115,000 square feet for food and retail stores. Plans for expanding Terminal B are also in the works with a planned completion date of 2028. Also on the schedule is a new Terminal E, a $450 million expansion program on the smaller hub, William P. Hobby Airport that serves 6 million passengers, which includes seven additional gates, additional baggage conveyor belts, and upgrades to the baggage handling system and restrooms.
Imburgia Consulting, LLC is Proud to be Part of the
United Airlines / George Bush Intercontinental Airport Terminal Transformation Team.
