Where I Stand -- Randy Walker: Keeping ahead of growth

Editor's note: In August Where I Stand is written by guest columnists. Today's guest is Randy Walker, director of aviation for Clark County. Walker has also served as deputy aviation director, deputy city manager for Las Vegas and as Clark County's chief financial officer. Walker writes of McCarran's ever-growing role in serving the flight needs of Southern Nevada.

AS CLARK COUNTY grows in population, tourism and industry, it's not enough for McCarran International Airport to just keep pace with the growth -- we have to stay one step ahead of the growth. The fastest-growing segment of our travel market is international travel, which is now at the forefront of McCarran's planning.

On the domestic side, passenger counts at McCarran have increased steadily for the past nine months. June 1999's increase was 12.3 percent over June last year, and year-to-date traffic has increased 9.3 percent. The D Gates satellite terminal is just over a year old and the foresight demonstrated in opening the terminal when we did is apparent. In order to accommodate airlines' anticipated growth, we are preparing to expand the D Gates as early as 2004. The initial expansion would be the construction of the northeast leg of the D Gates, at an estimated cost of $120 million.

Overall, air passenger traffic has increased nearly 60 percent since 1990, and the fastest-growing segment of McCarran's passenger activity is international traffic. International traffic is currently growing at a rate of 18 percent a year, continuing a growth trend of several years.

During the six-month period ending June 30 McCarran served 405,888 international passengers. We anticipate that resolved bilateral agreements with both Japan and England will lead to continued increases. We now have six nonstop scheduled flights each week to Japan, via Northwest Airlines and Japan Airlines. We also have two United Kingdom flights and three Germany flights weekly. Clearly, there is potential for more air service from these international destinations.

Our Air Service Development team works closely with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and other business associations. Our role is analyzing the potential of major air carriers operating from countries where service potential exists. In addition to developing new service, we strive to enhance service by existing carriers.

International flights utilize the Customs and Immigration facilities at Terminal 2, the Charter/International Terminal. These facilities can handle a minimum of 400 passengers an hour. That's the equivalent of one 747 aircraft an hour. If a second air carrier wants to come in at the same time as another, we obviously experience a slowdown. In this scenario, we're the victims of our own success.

With this in mind, we are developing plans to increase the capacity of Terminal 2, as a short-term solution, and construct a new International Terminal for the long-term. The interim remodeling of Terminal 2 will cost between $2-3 million. In the short-term, our expansion plans for the existing facility include increasing the number of booths in immigrations, increasing the queuing area, and adding a baggage belt.

For the long-term, our plans are to construct a new eight-gate international facility east of D Gates, near Russell Road and Tamarus Street. The funding for such a facility can come from airlines' rates and charges, a common source of construction funding, or from passenger facility charges (PFCs), which is how the D Gates facility was funded. Our preference is to use the PFC option.

A PFC is a local user fee, currently $3, attached to departing passengers' airline tickets. McCarran PFCs have provided the funding flexibility to build a world-class airport. Since 1992 McCarran has used $679 million in PFCs to finance new runways, roadways, ticketing and baggage claim facilities, and the D Gates.

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to increase the cap on PFCs to $6 and action is pending in the Senate. If Congress approves the increase, or removes the cap entirely, McCarran and its visitors will benefit and the new facility will be paid for by the people who use the airport. McCarran will use approximately $175 million to build the new terminal to accommodate our increasing international air service.

I am proud of McCarran and proud to work under the direction and management of the county manager and the Clark County Board of Commissioners. With their support we are able to meet the demands of our dynamic community and provide an airport that truly is a global leader.

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