Arnold Palmer Regional Airport Celebrates Milestone in Terminal Expansion Project

Jul. 8—As Pittsburgh International Airport's new $1.7 billion terminal nears completion, Western Pennsylvania's other major airport project celebrated a significant construction milestone Tuesday in Latrobe.

Westmoreland County government officials and airport workers gathered in the shadows of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport's $28 million terminal expansion project to mark the imminent completion of its hulking steel frame. Construction began last fall and will eventually house a new and improved gate.

"The money that we put in to expand this airport really has an exponential effect," Westmoreland Commissioner Secretary Ted Kopas said. "Our investment here is minuscule to the results that we'll see."

The new terminal will be more convenient for residents and travelers alike, he said, and will provide more opportunity for people to visit Westmoreland County and the Laurel Highlands as airport officials seek to attract new flights.

During a steel beam signing event Tuesday, attendees grabbed a Sharpie the size of a pepperoni roll and took turns signing the ceremonial final I-beam, which had been draped with an American flag for the occasion. Many smiled for the cameras as they made their mark on a piece of local history.

Once the terminal's 30,000-square-foot expansion is completed, it will have two fully functioning gates and more space for passengers and new flights, said Westmoreland County Airport Authority Executive Director Gabe Monzo.

The terminal's current two-gate setup is more like "a gate and a half," Mr. Monzo said.

While one is fully functional, the other has a woefully outdated boarding ramp that airport workers kept operating "with binder twine and chewing gum," he said.

That gate will be demolished when work on the new terminal is completed, he said.

Mr. Monzo added that the second gate's frequent mechanical issues prevented the airport from servicing more than two or three flights at a time and held back growth. The airport currently has one carrier, Spirit Airlines, but he said he is confident that the airport's improved capacity will help draw more potential partners.

Last year, 154,000 passengers on 563 flights moved through the airport, according to Federal Aviation Administration statistics.

"I think the airlines will react," Mr. Monzo said.

The new terminal will include more storage inside for the airport's baggage carts and other runway equipment that had previously been kept outside. The new setup will help protect them from the elements, Mr. Monzo said.

The security lines will be relocated to the current building's main level so as to be less cramped and more convenient for passengers, and the airport's offices will move to the basement.

Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R- Hempfield, said the expanded airport will generate more economic activity and revenue from tax dollars for the region.

"This is a big day for Westmoreland County," she said.

Unlike Pittsburgh International's new terminal, which is expected to open this fall, customers will have to wait a while to step inside the new Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

The airport's progress on the project nearly ground to a halt in June when vital domestic steel shipments were delayed for several weeks.

"Everybody's been champing at the bit waiting for the steel to get here," Mr. Monzo said.

The beams arrived on July 1 and will form the rest of the building's skeleton once installed, but the delay pushed back the project's timeline by several months, he said.

He now expects the new terminal to be fully operational sometime in 2027.