KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Kayla Desroches/KMXT
The Alaska Airlines terminal at Kodiak Benny Benson State Airport is about halfway through an extensive interior renovation and this month the chaos within could actually increase.
Alaska Airlines’ regional vice president for the state, Marilyn Romano, says the airline updated its brand about a year ago and is now working towards a multi-million dollar renovation to each of the 11 terminals it owns in the state.
She says Kodiak is one of the first locations to receive the makeover.
“You’ll get a new carousel for baggage that will be designed and placed in a different location than it is now, basically giving you more room inside the terminal which will give us increased seating and actually, one of the big things, once you go through TSA today when you fly out of Kodiak, you’re put into an area to wait that doesn’t even have restroom facilities, and so once we’re complete, you go through security, you’ll have brand new restroom facilities.”
She says the new look will be clean and fresh, and will include new floors, which will be coming over the next three or four weeks.
It’s a complicated renovation, Romano says, and so Alaska Airlines has released a notice alerting residents to the challenges that lie ahead.
The airline recommends patrons arrive at least 2 hours in advance and people escorting passengers are asked to limit their time in the terminal in order to reduce crowding. Ravn Alaska customers should also prepare themselves for the shared clutter.
Services will shift around, with the three ticketing stations reduced to two, and that could mean longer wait times for check-ins. The airline will need to redirect traffic flow and it’ll provide signs for the changes, which it says could occur almost daily. The airline also warns that the main power feed to the building runs through the cargo office, and it’ll need to reconnect the feed before it can build from the space.
Romano says the entire renovation, both the interior and exterior, is scheduled to be completed in June, if not earlier.
