LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As travelers trickled through Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Tuesday, some of the airport's newest upgrades made for an easier trip.
SDF officials said the airport's goal was to have construction on many upgrades complete before Thanksgiving.
"In Louisville, those peak times are obviously the holidays, and that's everywhere," said Megan Atkins Thoben, vice president of operations at the airport. "But then we have Derby, which makes it a unique challenge to do construction around here, because our year is cut in half."
There's a brand new baggage claim area, one side completed with a new carousel for bags that's sleeker and closer to the back wall to allow for more room for passengers to maneuver the area. What was once five belts is now just four, and passengers will see their bag at all times now without it having to go back behind a wall before reappearing.
"They are extremely efficient and they're brand new and they allow for additional capacity for the growth we're experiencing here at the airport," Atkins Thoben said.
The second side of baggage claim is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving.
And once the baggage claim is done, construction will head upstairs to the ticket counter and TSA. An estimated $40 million will be spent upgrading TSA to eight lanes to help reduce delays.
However, after complaints about long checkpoint lines in the mornings, SDF and TSA expanded the checkpoint area to help ease some of the waiting. They're hopeful it will cut down on lines for holiday travel.
The Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Nov. 7, 2023. (WDRB Photo)
"Now we have six full lanes in the space where we did have five and a narrower corridor for exit," Atkins Thoben said. "And then we took a seventh lane that doesn't have as long of a conveyer and we put that over in our food court area."
Finally, an underground geothermal field is now live at the airport, the largest at any airport in the country. The system will help naturally heat and cool the terminal by circulating water through the geothermal wells underground. This allows the earth to help reduce the energy required to regulate temperatures above ground inside buildings.
Louisville Airport Authority Executive Director Dan Mann said the airport will upgrade sky lights and add new furniture and upgraded restrooms to the rest of the terminal. Airport officials are also discussing the addition of another parking garage. Mann said it's likely it would be built on the east side of the terminal and cost around $50 million to build.
"You can really tell the difference," frequent flier Troy Rogers said of the upgrades. "We do come through here at least a dozen times a year, so you see the difference, but ... avoid the morning flights."
Rogers and others said they still experience some of the long lines on the mornings of peak travel days.
"There aren't enough screening stations," Rogers' wife, Kim, added. "When there's only four or five, and you have a couple thousand people traveling, you're going to wait."
Airport officials said SDF is the fastest-growing airport in the country in 2023, and any travelers believe the work being done here will catch up to that growth soon when more checkpoints are added.
"That will make all the difference," Rogers said.
For more information on SDF Next, click here.
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