$4M county contribution bumps Palmer airport terminal expansion project into high gear

Arnold Palmer Regional Airport’s $22 million terminal expansion project is underway thanks to a $4 million commitment from Westmoreland County commissioners.

Planning for the renovation, which will add 32,000 square feet at the Unity airport, began around five or six years ago out of necessity, according to airport Executive Director Gabe Monzo.

A letter from the Transportation Security Administration stating that the existing checkpoints did not meet the recommended space design standards and required updates was the impetus for the project.

“That’s what sparked this whole operation,” Monzo said.

The Westmoreland County Airport Authority’s engineer, Scott Kunselman of McFarland-Johnson, said the preliminary phase of the project began in July with the construction of a new maintenance facility and demolition of a storage hangar.

“We’re building a new building over on the other side of that to put the equipment that’s currently stored in there,” Kunselman said.

That phase, which cost $2 million, will be completed about January, he said.

Once that’s finished, the first phase of construction on the terminal expansion can begin. It’s expected to cost $20 million, and the process will be done in three phases, according to Kunselman.

He expects phase one to be complete by the end of 2025, with the whole project wrapping up in 2028.

The addition will be operational by the end of the first phase, Kunselman said. The expansion will include two gates, and one will be open to “create a route in and out.”

“We have to go in three phases primarily because that’s when our money comes,” Kunselman said.

The airport authority acquired approximately $17 million in federal and state money for the project, according to county Commissioner Ted Kopas. He and Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew made a commitment to provide the $4 million funding in a letter sent to the airport authority last month.

“It’s only right that — as the local sponsor — the county would fill that gap,” Kopas said.

The county provides an annual appropriation to the airport — about $2.6 million for 2023 — and the $4 million is in addition to those funds.

“These are the types of things that the county needs to do and should do to grow our economy and to help grow our area in general,” Kopas said.

Monzo said the $4 million is what tipped the scale to make the project happen.

“It’s going to mean a lot to this airport — not only now but over the next 20 years,” Monzo said.

Spirit’s continued service as the airport’s sole commercial carrier, meanwhile, could be in jeopardy as an antitrust case is scheduled to start toward the end of October. The airline now offers direct service to Myrtle Beach and Orlando, and previously offered flights Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa.

The court will hear a challenge filed by the U.S. Justice Department, which is suing to block JetBlue’s proposed $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit. The Justice Department claims the takeover would reduce competition and raise air fares by eliminating the nation’s biggest discount airline, according to The Associated Press.

Passenger numbers at the Unity airport are down in the wake of those route cuts. There were 98,868 total inbound and outbound Spirit passengers this year through the end of August, about 55.3% of the 178,664 passengers the airport had seen by the same time last year, according to the airport Traffic Record.

The last time major work was done on the airport was in the 1990s, according to Kunselman, and the renovations enabled the airport to support aircraft with 35 passengers.

The airport can now handle aircraft with 175 passengers, and the latest upgrades will bump that passenger load to 200.

“We’ve been making small changes over time to try and accommodate that, but it’s really we’ve been slapping Band-Aids … bubble gum and baling wire,” Kunselman said.

Airport authority Chairman Donald Rossi said the extension secures the future of the airport.

“Without that, we’re just going to stay dormant the way we are and go backward rather than forward,” Rossi said. “So, along with this comes a lot of hope.”