LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The next time you fly in or out of the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, know there is a lot of work being done in front and behind the scenes in an effort to enhance the traveler experience. 

In 2019, the airport saw the first steps of a $1 billion SDF Next Program to upgrade and update many things about the traveler experience. Of that total plan, $350 million has been spent, and the airport said another $260 million is planned for the next two years.

Much of the construction is going on overhead with the airport's ventilation system. 

"It's doing a whole lot of of the mechanical systems," Dan Mann, executive director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. "So we had the geothermal (and) we did the initial turn on with that. So this is getting up into the systems ... to make sure the geothermal is good."

Crews were working behind construction walls Monday refreshing the ticketing area and working on new staircases to ease congestion. 

"(There will be) new glass walls, a lot better visuals and then we will be moving into the checkpoint with 10 check lanes instead of the six we have today," Mann said. 

In 2025 and 2026, terminals will get new expanded security checkpoints as well as improvements to post-security in concourses and gates. Taxiways will also be reconstructed.

The Starbucks and KFC just in front of TSA are temporarily closed as new store fronts, lighting, and systems are upgraded. 

The terminals will also get a redo. Travelers can expect to eventually see new lighting and skylights, furniture with outlets, new ticketing gates and new jet bridges. Construction near the ticketing areas is expected to be completed in time for Kentucky Derby 151 in May. 

Related Stories:

Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.