Airport check-in: Long Beach looks into privatization
— -- What's new
• City officials in Long Beach, Calif., are considering a proposal to privatize Long Beach Airport, whose Art Deco terminal is a historic landmark in the region.
Patrick West, the city manager, was recently approached by investment bankers about selling the long-term lease of the airport to private investors. The Long Beach City Council plans to meet at a future date to discuss the proposal. "There was no offer," says city spokesman Ed Kamlan. "He's just merely passing it to the city council. It's a very initial kind of inquiry."
The council had scheduled a closed session for discussion last week, but postponed it after local citizens and several council members called for opening it to the public.
Privatizing an airport would initially generate a financial windfall, but the controlling public entity — typically, a city government or an aviation authority — would relinquish operational control and future revenue to the private operator. Long Beach and several other cities are contemplating the option as airport revenue dwindles along with travel demand.
The federal government has an experimental program that would allow five airports in the country to be privatized, only one of which can be a hub airport. Chicago Midway is the only applicant still being actively considered, while four other non-hub slots remain available.
• A bit of Swedish ingenuity is coming to Tulsa International.
Following up on a traveler suggestion, the airport will begin testing a new way of retrieving bags at one of its baggage claim carousels.
Later in the spring, the airport will tape a line on the floor that circles the entire perimeter of the carousel, and travelers will be required to stay behind it as they wait for their bags. Travelers are allowed to step inside the line and approach the carousel only after their bags emerge.
The arrangement would prevent crowds of people jockeying for position at the edge of the carousel and blocking the view of those who are standing behind, says airport spokeswoman Michelle Evans.
