Southwest's new concourse to open at ISP
About time, but the other concourse will not be used until repairs to the apron are complete. :roll: :roll: :roll:
Quote:
Getting off the ground
Amid investigations and after needed fixes, Southwest ready to open new concourse at MacArthur Airport
BY SANDRA PEDDIE
INVESTIGATIONS TEAM; Staff writer John Valenti contributed to this story.
November 15, 2006
Southwest Airlines plans to open its second concourse at Long Island MacArthur Airport as early as Friday, after correcting safety hazards and persuading state overseers to ease some fire code requirements.
Outgoing Islip Town Supervisor Eric Hofmeister, who is to be named deputy airport commissioner this week, said yesterday that the airport had been "under attack by various entities," but that the opening would "validate our position that the facility was safe."
Federal, state and local agencies have opened investigations into the expansion.
Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said the company was "thrilled" by the opening, but that no new flights would be added immediately. Instead, it will allow Southwest to transfer its current operations to the new concourse while repair work begins on the cracked apron, the area where planes pull up to the terminal.
Newsday reported in May that cracks had appeared in the newly installed $12.4-million apron, which was part of a much-heralded $82-million airport expansion project. Such cracks are considered dangerous because debris that falls off planes can become lodged in the cracks and then sucked into plane engines, causing structural damage.
Both Islip, which owns and operates the Ronkonkoma airport, and Southwest, which undertook the expansion, have hired consultants to determine the cause of the cracks.
The new concourse's opening, originally set for last July, was delayed because of problems ranging from an inadequate number of exits to insufficient smoke detectors and fire sprinklers. Islip officials said yesterday that most of those problems have been repaired.
Others were addressed at a hearing last week of the New York State Board of Review, which hears requests for relief from the state fire code. The board granted Southwest variances from fire-code requirements relating to the number of exits and fire insulation.
According to the decision, board members decided the concourse was safe and that any additional work needed to comply completely with the code would be "an excessive and unreasonable economic burden" and "physically or legally impractical."
