The turning of 10 shovelfuls of dirt on the Eppley Airfield tarmac Tuesday morning marked the ceremonial start of the airport’s huge $950 million terminal expansion project.
Gov. Jim Pillen, U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon and Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert joined leaders of the Omaha Airport Authority, donning hard hats and grinning for cameras as they dug into soil trucked in just for the occasion.
“This really is a historic, fantastic day,” Ricketts said.
When the project is finished in 2028, the spot where they stood Tuesday will be directly under Eppley’s new Central Pavilion, a large area where future passengers will pass through security and stop to eat on the way to the new single concourse.
The project will boost the size of the terminal by 72%, to 646,000 square feet, and change every aspect of travel for Eppley visitors. Among the changes:
People are also reading…
Updated ticket counters on the second floor of the terminal, adjacent to security.
An increase to 22 gates (from the current 20), with larger waiting areas and more cell-phone charging ports.
Expanded food and shopping options behind the security area.
Two gates capable of accommodating international flights, connected to a customs arrival hall.
New elevators and escalators.
A new baggage-screening system and expanded baggage claim.
More and better restrooms, including family restrooms and nursing rooms.
These features are in addition to the new garages and rental-car area and airport entrances built in the last decade, and the new all-weather canopy now under construction over the terminal drive.
“We are getting ready to create a world-class airport,” said Eric Butler, chairman of the airport authority’s board of directors. “It will be a gateway to our community.”
Stothert noted the difference in the city and the airport from 30 years ago, when she stepped off an airplane at Eppley wearing sandals and shorts after a flight from sunny Texas — right into a Midwest snowstorm.
Back then, she said, there were no “string of pearls” streetlights along Abbott Drive to downtown, no Gallup campus, no CHI Health Center arena, no Charles Schwab baseball field, no Kiewit Luminarium, no Steelhouse concert venue.
“We have come a long, long way,” Stothert said. “We can all be very, very proud of our momentum today.”
Pillen described himself as the airport’s “chief bragging officer” and boasted that the expansion is a “billion-dollar value.”
“We are in the center of the world here in Nebraska, here in Omaha, and it’s incredible,” Pillen said. “This is a big, big deal.”
Eppley’s expansion is being built without local tax dollars, said Dave Roth, the airport authority’s chief executive officer, though airport users will help to fund it. The airport authority has authorized the sale of bonds, which will be paid back with funds from airport concessions, parking, passenger facility charges, the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration.
“We’re really looking at transforming this airport,” Roth said. “It’s for long-term growth and continued sustainment.”
Some of the money is coming from FAA grants made possible by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. The $1.2 billion law is a signature achievement of President Joe Biden.
Despite its name, most Republicans voted against it, including a majority of Nebraska’s all-GOP delegation.
But Fischer and Bacon supported it and took some heat within their party for doing so. Both said they helped to ensure that the bill included funding for Nebraska projects.
“I’m a fiscal conservative, but we want to be sure that Omaha has a seat at the table,” Bacon said.
Republicans have backed infrastructure in the past, he said — from Abraham Lincoln’s championing of the transcontinental railroad, to Dwight Eisenhower’s key role in the construction of the Interstate highway system.
“We’re proud of the impact this will have — three or four decades of impact,” Bacon said.
Fischer credited local leaders who championed the project for seeing it through.
“How exciting to see visionaries here in Omaha, who came together with a vision, on a mission,” she said. “Thanks for stepping forward and doing what needs to be done.”