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Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
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OCR for page 3
2
VIEWPOINTS ON THE FUTURE TERMINAL BUILDING
Airports are complex systems that must serve the sometimes
conflicting needs of a variety of interests. Most of these interests
are reflected in the terminal building: airlines park their air-
craft for loading and unloading; passengers and their baggage
move between ground transport and aircraft; airlines, the airport
operator, and businesses seek to serve and assist passengers and
airport visitors; and the terminal building supports these activi-
· · . . · . — · . · · . . · —
ties with shelter, utilities, and amenities. Workshop participants
considered the future passenger-terminal building from several
points of view.
LARGE AIRPORTS AND THE AIRPORT SYSTEM
The nation's commercial airports vary in size from facilities
serving small metropolitan areas with limited scheduled air ser-
vice to the very large centers through which millions of people
pass each year. Experience has been gained as the larger air-
ports have grown, and this has provided knowledge on how to
anticipate and solve the major problems encountered when ter-
minal buildings are built or modified to accommodate growth in
air travel.
Challenges for the future lie in serving volumes of passen-
gers that far surpass this experience. Unless they become choked
by their own growth, it seems likely that in coming years larger
airports will routinely serve 30 million to 50 million annual
3 There are about 500 commercial service airports in the
United States, but the 10 busiest airports together account for
approximately 40 percent of the nation's annual enplanements.
3
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enplanements.4 Some observers foresee single airports serving 100
million or more annual enplanements.
The large airports of the future, for the most part, will
likely be existing facilities where terminal buildings must be
built and rebuilt within the constraints of existing property
boundaries, runway and highway systems, and continuing airline
operations. Denver, Colorado, and Austin, Texas, have under-
taken the planning and design of major new airports. Proposed
new "wayports", large airports in smaller cities, would primarily
serve passengers transferring between flights in airline hub-and-
spoke route systems.5
However, even at these new airports,
limitations imposed by transport technology and economics will
force terminal building designs to be shaped into essentially the
same forms as today's terminals. The future terminal building is
unlikely to be radically different in basic concept, but will be
larger and busier than any of the airports that currently exist.
CHALLENGES POSED BY FUTURE
COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT
The capacity limits of the air transport system today are
imposed by the limited ability of current runway and air traffic
control technology to ensure safe operations in the congested
airspace surrounding busy airports. While the technology may
improve in the future, most of the continuing growth of demand
for air travel at the busiest airports will most likely be met by
using larger and faster aircraft to move more people more rapidly
through the congested airways. The number, size, shape, and
servicing characteristics of future aircraft will shape future
terminal buildings.
Current research may, in the more distant future, lead to
the introduction of a high-speed commercial transport aircraft
(HSCT) into more general service. As currently envisioned, the
future HSCT would look much like the Concorde, but it would
_
· · ~ . · . — ~ ~
4 Chicago~s O'Hare International and Atlantats Hartsfield
International airports, for example, each currently serve 20
million to 25 million passenger enplanements annually.
5 Future Development of the U.S. Airport Network:
Preliminary Report and Recommended Study Plan, Trans-
portation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 1988. Workshop
participants noted that wayports are unlikely to be practical in
the absence of an established base of origin-destination traffic.
4
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be larger and faster (Figure 2-1~.6 The HSCT might require
larger apron areas, although a shorter wingspan might com-
pensate for greater length--compared with the length of the
Boeing 747, for example--in the use of apron parking space and
permit the HSCT to use gates designed for the Boeing 747.
Aerodynamic requirements may result in door locations and sill
heights that will require modifications in passenger loading
bridge designs or terminal floor elevations. The HSCT may
require the installation of special fuel-delivery systems.
However, only a relatively few U.S. airports may be served by
the HSCT.
Designs of subsonic aircraft are likely to change in minor
ways that may have important implications for the terminal
building. Some airlines are beginning to park large and small
aircraft very close to one another by taking advantage of
differences in wing height so that greater numbers of aircraft
can be packed into the limited apron space immediately adjacent
to terminal buildings (termed "composite parking" by one
workshop participant). Countering this trend will be new wing
designs that include vertical fins (wingless) that enable a reduced
wingspan. These vertical surfaces would require greater separa-
tion distances between the wings of parked aircraft, to permit
safe aircraft maneuvering and the free circulation of ground-
service vehicles. These designs may also restrict the use of over-
the-wing loading bridges like those now being adopted in EuroDe
~ . ~ .
-
(Figure 2-2).
Increased passenger payload may be achieved by some
further stretching of current aircraft lengths or by adding or
enlarging passenger decks above or below the current deck level
in wide-bodied aircraft such as the Airbus A-300. This change
would increase the surge of passengers in the terminal for
arriving or departing flights and would dictate changes in
terminal design or use to accommodate these passengers at
acceptable conditions of crowding and delay. Changes in
terminal gate configurations might be required to permit direct
entry between the terminal and the aircraft's upper or lower
deck. Aircraft length also influences apron geometry and the
distances required between terminals, runways, and taxiways.
6 Other HSCT designs are likely to be developed, and airlines
have not yet made commitments to adopting these aircraft.
s
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FIGURE 2-1 Preliminary conceptual plan for the high-speed
commercial transport aircraft. (Drawing courtesy of Douglas
Aircraft Company.)
MD-1 1
747~00
i:
-
MD-11 747~00 HSCT
SEATS 321 412 300
LENGTH (m) 61.2 70.5 96.0
SPAN (m) 51.8 64.3 36.9
WEIGHT (kg) 275,455 395,455 349,545
~ i
1 ~
,,~
HSCT
l
Reductions in the servicing time at the gate between the
arrival and departure of an aircraft--aircraft turnaround time--
can have a dramatic impact on airline operating costs.7 Under
current procedures the turnaround time for an aircraft serving
a long route is approximately 90 minutes, and a single boarding
gate typically can accommodate no more than 9 to 10 such air-
craft in a normal operating day. Aircraft can be turned around
in as little as 30 minutes, and airlines operate busy Rates with 13
to 14 aircraft turnarounds in a typical day.
. · · · ~ . —
_
Restrictions on
carrying out Such activities astuel~ng end passenger boarding
7 By workshop participants' estimates, one hour of ground
time saved per flight can add up to savings of as much as $50
million over the service life of a single aircraft. Savings result
primarily from the greater efficiency of aircraft utilization.
Scheduled turnaround times typically are 30 to 120 minutes.
6
\
\
\
\
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FIGURE 2-2 Over-the-wing loading bridge. (Drawing repro-
duced from Airports International, Jan/Feb, 1989.)
· -
~ ~ . - , ~ ~ -A
D- - me.
~ .
..~
,
an/ ,'
simultaneously are currently among the critical factors deter-
mining the minimum turnaround time. Future improvements in
testing and safety systems may allow some relaxation of these
restrictions and enable a greater number of flights to be served
at a single gate.
CAN THE AIRPORT TERMINAL KEEP GROWING?
The terminal building has evolved over the years from its
origin as a simple shelter for transfer between transportation
modes. Today's terminal is a multifunctioned facility designed
to provide a range of amenities and services, a "travel experience"
and "sense of place," as well as basic shelter. This evolution has
7
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involved not only growth in the size of new buildings and addi-
tions but has also increased the variety, extent, and complexity
of the mechanical and service systems housed within these build-
ings. Today's terminal building accounts for approximately one-
third of the financial investment in a major airport, but for only
a small fraction of the cost of air transportation.8
The evolution of terminal buildings has involved changes
in basic form or "concept"9 from a single large structure to a
multistructure complex. The combination of a central terminal
facility and satellites will likely become increasingly common at
large airports. The satellites provide increased apron parking
space that allow the direct contact of buildings for boarding
gates and that allow airlines to concentrate their operations. The
central passenger gateway would then be able to facilitate the
activities designed specifically to protect passenger security.
Current experience suggests that the terminal can and will
keep growing to meet increased demands. However, the scarcity
of land at many airports will make automobile parking an in-
creasingly expensive luxury, leading to higher parking fees,
restrictions on parking availability and duration, and con-
struction of multilevel parking structures and remote park-and-
ride facilities. Peoplemovers and rail transit will be used more
frequently to link structures within the airport terminal complex
and, possibly, to provide alternative means of access between the
airport and the metropolitan area it serves. High-speed railways
may supplement or even replace air service for short trips be-
tween some major metropolitan areas.
Today's terminal might be termed an "iceberg," in the sense
that there is more activity hidden below the surface than the
passengers see (i.e., out of sight of the public first level baggage
claim and transportation areas). This will increasingly be the
case. Workshop participants noted that as much as 85 percent of
the terminal space may be occupied by baggage systems and other
airport operating functions with which the passengers have no
direct contact.
Commercial concession activities may become more promi-
nent as security procedures cause passengers to spend more time
in the terminal. As long as restaurants and retail outlets continue
~ By participants' estimates, airport-related expenses account
for approximately 3 to 5 percent of the price of a passenger's
ticket.
. 9 Airport planners characterize terminal configurations in
terms of five basic concepts--simple, linear, pier, satellite, and
transporter--or combinations of these basic concepts. (see
glossary in Appendix A).
8
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to operate profitably and generate net income for airport oper-
ators, without interfering with passenger service and movement
and airline efficiency, space allocated to these activities can be
expected to grow. Finding the space for concession activities in
locations that will enhance concessionaire profitability may be a
major challenge for future terminal designers. Bringing conces-
sionaires into the terminal design process may yield valuable
benefits in increased airport operating efficiency and revenue.
-
FUTURE LARGE-SCALE OPERATORS
Operators of the largest airports are f inding that their
airport may be "slot controlled"~° or constrained by the number
of available gates during parts of a day, even as growth in
passenger traffic continues. Airlines often respond to airside
slot and gate constraints by introducing larger aircraft, which
intensifies passenger terminal activity levels and increases
processing problems.
Waves of activity at the terminal curb
ront, checic-~n counters, corridors, baggage claims, and departure
lounges can create service conditions that are crowded during one
period and nearly empty during another. Determining the
affordable and acceptable levels of service during periods of
peak activity is a key challenge facing airline and airport
managers.
Increasing the size of the terminal building, if possible, is
expensive and is only one part of the means to meet this chal-
lenge. New York's John F. Kennedy International and Chicago's
O'Hare airports, for example, currently serve annually approx-
imately twice the number of passengers they were originally
designed to serve. The growth has been served in part by
channeling the increased demand to parts of the airport or times
of day that were previously underutilized. However, some of the
increased demand has been served by allowing service conditions
to become slower or more crowded. Airline staffing and operat-
ing practices are important influences on service conditions, but
the airport manager must generally make the longer-term deci-
sions on facilities development and control that affect the
standards of service. Flexibility to respond to air travel growth
a The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposes slot
controls when the number of aircraft being served is consistently
at or exceeds the limits imposed by the runway and air traffic
control systems. When controlled, only a certain number of time
slots are available for flight operations in any particular period
of time at a particular airport.
9
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and changing patterns of airline operations will continue to be a
highly desirable characteristic of terminal building designs.
AIRLINES NEED TO KEEP THE PLANES MOVING
The airport represents only a small part of an airline's cost
of doing business. Nevertheless, when crowding on the apron or
in the terminal threaten to slow aircraft operations, the airport
becomes costly for the airline. Compared to pricing of travel,
flight schedules, routing, and advertising, airport operations may
have a relatively small impact on the airline's ability to attract
customers. However, airlines will generally prefer a terminal
that gives their customers good service and avoids the direct
exposure of these customers to competing airlines.
Passengers are sometimes required to walk long distancesii
between gates in large terminal buildings, which makes it
difficult to reduce the ground time for departing flights
receiving passengers who are transferring from other flights.
There is not enough time to sort and transfer baggage and for
passengers to make the connection. Remote aircraft parking at
"handstands" might relieve the problem of crowded apron space,
but it can add 30 to 60 minutes of ground time and increases
passenger inconvenience. Airlines will continue to prefer direct
contact between aircraft and the terminal building.
· . .
THE TERMINAL AS A FESTIVAL MARKET
Commercial developers are becoming more interested in the
business opportunities that major airport terminals present. A
typical visitor to an urban festival market may spend about two
hours shopping and eating, a period comparable to the time
departing or transferring passengers may spend in the terminal.
The traffic in a large terminal complex, which may serve 30
million to 100 million passengers annually (plus visitors), dwarfs
the customer traffic of 12 million to 15 million people that makes
a festival market viable. A variety of department stores, art
galleries, and specialty retailers, as well as food and beverage
services, have found local airports to be a good place to do
business.
ti Walking distances of 4,000 feet and more are becoming
more frequent. Airlines may deal with the problem by schedul-
ing connections for later flights, which increases passenger
waiting time in the terminal building.
10
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High passenger traffic alone does not support commercial
development, however. The location, environment, and merchan-
dise offered must combine to convert passengers' waiting time
into a retail shopping opportunity. Commercial development,
including the types of food services and merchandise offered,
will have to be tailored to the specific market at each airport.
Passengers are often anxious to reach the departure gate
area. Retail operations may be more likely to succeed if they
are concentrated near the gate areas and so placed as to attract
the customer while allowing easy visual and physical access to
departure gates. However, these operations will compete with
circulation, airline offices, and passenger amenities for limited
space on the gate concourse and may pose security and logistical
problems in the delivery of goods and the removal of waste.
SELLING AND SERVING IN THE MARKETPLACE
Retailers or concessionaires operating in airport terminals
typically face high rents and a very specialized market. Airport
rental agreements that require concessionaires to pay from 15 to
as much as 30 percent of their gross revenues are substantially
higher than the percentage that a similar business might pay in
a less exclusive off-airport location. When an airline establishes
a hub operations passenger traffic in the terminal typically
increases much more than total terminal concessionaire sales'
because many passengers spend only short periods of time in the
terminal and will not go far from their departure gates to pur-
chase a drinks a bite to eat, or a magazine. Nevertheless, some
· · ~ · ~ · ~ . · ~ . ~ . . · ~ ~
concessionaires are ~lnalng large terminals lo oe poten~lally a
good place to do business.
Future terminal designs could better enhance passenger ex-
posure and access to concessions. For example, solid walls
between gate areas and restaurants or lounges cut off the visual
contact between passengers and their departure gates. Terminal
designs could better serve the need of restaurant kitchens and
retailers for deliveries and waste removal that avoid unsightly
spills and congestion from carts operating in the passenger
concourse.
FINDING ONE'S WAY THROUGH THE MAZE
The challenge that passengers face while finding their way
through a large terminal building generally increases the stress
and anxiety they already tend to feel about their flight schedule.
Future terminals should be designed to give passengers a clearer
11
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sense of where they are at all times and how to get where they
need to go. Better signs and other "wayfinding" aids may im-
prove the efficiency of passenger movement and increase passen-
ger receptivity to retail activities and amenities such as art
displays, but they are not a substitute for building designs that
enhance passengers' ability to find their way through the
terminal.
SPACE, TIME, AND THE TERMINAL
-
. ~ .
As activity levels increase, the timing of activities that
occupy space becomes increasingly important in all areas of the
terminal. Terminal operators are coming to recognize that one
person standing in a corridor for one hour is occupying space
that might have been used by perhaps 60 passengers walking
through the corridor. In a similar fashion, 60 passengers arriving
at the terminal by train rather than individually by taxi can save
2,400 to 3,000 feet-minutes of curb frontage. The problems of
terminal planning are not simply providing enough total space
but, rather, being sure that space is available when and where it
is needed.
The lesson applies to many passenger amenities as well, as
demonstrated by the long queues outside of women's restrooms
at busy times in some airports. The minimum sizes of such ele-
ments as corridors, stairways, moving walkways, and restrooms
is often specified in local building codes; and these codes may
have to be modified to provide for the special design needs of
future airport passenger terminals.
MOVING THE PEOPLE
As the size of the terminal building or multibuilding com-
plex grows, mechanized walkways and peoplemover systems be-
come essential elements of the design. At current costs,
i2 In both cases, there are direct consequences for terminal
design. Most domestic passengers arrive at the airport within one
hour of the scheduled departure time. Hence, encouraging peak-
hour passengers to arrive by train would be equivalent, in prin-
ciple, to adding floor area for circulation and waiting in the
concourse and extending the length of the curb outside the ter-
minal. Relatively modest shifts in peak-period arrival patterns
could improve conditions for a significant fraction of users and
would yield real savings for the airport.
12
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peoplemovers account for 4 to 10 percent of the capital cost of
major activity centers such as airport terminals, which is com-
parable to the investment in elevators in large high-rise buildings.
The use of alternative technologies that are currently available 3
could reduce peoplemover costs significantly and make their use
practical at many more airports. Construction costs for guide-
ways, which must be located in tunnels or away from runways
and taxiways, remain the major constraint to more widespread
use of these systems. However, payoffs in passenger convenience
and reduced need for curb dropoff areas, pedestrian concourses,
and waiting areas may be significant.
HEAVY BAGGAGE
Baggage-handling systems in future terminals will be larger
and more complex. There will be more baggage, and at those
airports where an airline operates a route hub, the sorting of
baggage between connecting flights will become more challeng-
ing. The largest systems today must handle 800 items per minute,
items that are very diverse in size, orientation, and ability to
endure handling without damage. These systems occupy large
areas and are substantial investments.~4
Because of this, such systems are likely to be designed to
serve several functions, such as processing of mail and express
package cargo, in addition to passengers' baggage. Future systems
may also distribute small parts for aircraft maintenance, supplies
for terminal concessionaires, and aircraft catering supplies and
may facilitate trash removal, linking remote airport facilities to
the apron, gate, and passenger service areas.
t3 Horizontal elevators, or funiculars in particular, may
provide a relatively economical and reliable shuttle service at
operating speeds only somewhat slower than those of the people-
mover systems now in use at many airports.
|4 For example, American Airlines' baggage system at
Chicago's O'Hare International airport includes approximately
eight miles of conveyor belts and a central baggage room with a
floor area of 350 by 350 feet and 21 feet high. Equipment
specialists foresee future baggage systems costing $100 million at
large airports.
13
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
terminal buildings
