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Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals (1989)

Chapter: 2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building

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Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
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Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
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Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
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Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
×
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Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
×
Page 7
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Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
×
Page 8
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Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
×
Page 9
Page 10
Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
×
Page 10
Page 11
Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
×
Page 11
Page 12
Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
×
Page 12
Page 13
Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
×
Page 13
Page 14
Suggested Citation:"2 Viewpoints on the Future Terminal Building." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 1989. Workshop on Future Airport Passenger Terminals. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1505.
×
Page 14

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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

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

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

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 \ \ \ \

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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