PHL
Jan 6, 02, 12:35 pm
1/6/02 Philadelphia Inquirer
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Fewer overseas travelers have been flying into Philadelphia since Sept. 11, yet construction workers at the airport continue to pound and drill at the site of the new international terminal.
With 13 gates, the $400 million terminal in the southern-most part of the airport was initially set to open this spring. Then airport officials announced the opening would be delayed until early summer because of construction changes, contractor delays, and last year's severe winter.
Now Aviation Director Charles Isdell says September or October might be more like it. The push-back would give US Airways - the developer of the terminal - time to install 12 machines that are capable of detecting explosives in all checked baggage.
But delaying the opening until the fall could cause other problems: In October, debt-service payments start to come due on the bonds issued in 1998 to build the terminal. Most of that debt service is supposed to be covered by a $4.50-per-passenger fee, which is already being charged.
Until the terminal opens, it will not generate the additional fees that the airport needs to service the debt.
Meanwhile, the explosive-detection machines cost $1 million apiece and must be in place by Dec. 31 under a congressionally mandated deadline.
"We're going to strive to get [the new terminal] open before October, but we can't commit to a specific date at this point," airport spokesman Mark Pesce said Monday. "We want to make sure that the equipment is in there, tested, and ready to go so we don't open the building and then have to put the equipment in."
Even the current timetable could be snagged by the fact that only two companies are currently licensed to provide the machines, with one company making just 20 a year.
The total needed at airports nationwide: more than 2,100.
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Fewer overseas travelers have been flying into Philadelphia since Sept. 11, yet construction workers at the airport continue to pound and drill at the site of the new international terminal.
With 13 gates, the $400 million terminal in the southern-most part of the airport was initially set to open this spring. Then airport officials announced the opening would be delayed until early summer because of construction changes, contractor delays, and last year's severe winter.
Now Aviation Director Charles Isdell says September or October might be more like it. The push-back would give US Airways - the developer of the terminal - time to install 12 machines that are capable of detecting explosives in all checked baggage.
But delaying the opening until the fall could cause other problems: In October, debt-service payments start to come due on the bonds issued in 1998 to build the terminal. Most of that debt service is supposed to be covered by a $4.50-per-passenger fee, which is already being charged.
Until the terminal opens, it will not generate the additional fees that the airport needs to service the debt.
Meanwhile, the explosive-detection machines cost $1 million apiece and must be in place by Dec. 31 under a congressionally mandated deadline.
"We're going to strive to get [the new terminal] open before October, but we can't commit to a specific date at this point," airport spokesman Mark Pesce said Monday. "We want to make sure that the equipment is in there, tested, and ready to go so we don't open the building and then have to put the equipment in."
Even the current timetable could be snagged by the fact that only two companies are currently licensed to provide the machines, with one company making just 20 a year.
The total needed at airports nationwide: more than 2,100.