Additional security checkpoint lane to open this summer
People flying through John Glenn Columbus International Airport might have a little easier time getting through security thanks to an additional checkpoint lane in Concourse A.
The Columbus Regional Airport Authority board learned Tuesday that it will get additional screening equipment despite having been told not long ago by the Transportation Security Administration that John Glenn Airport would have to wait.
Elaine Roberts, CEO of the airport authority, said the equipment should be delivered in mid-July and be operational in the terminal, served by Southwest Airlines, by the beginning of August.
The board also learned that passenger totals continued to rise in May.
For May, John Glenn served 3.4 percent more passengers than during the previous May, despite a decline of about half a percent in the number of flights. This year remains on track to overtake 2007 as the record year for passenger traffic at John Glenn airport. The record of 7.7 million passengers set in 2007 came when Skybus Airlines was flying.
Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, the largest and third-largest carriers at the airport, reported passenger increases in May.
Other airlines — American, United and Air Canada Express — all had single-digit declines.
Frontier Airlines, the smallest carrier other than Air Canada at John Glenn, launched service at the airport in June 2016, so comparable statistics won’t be available until next month.
The airport authority board has plans to build a new terminal building to accommodate anticipated future growth, and has announced the hiring of a chief development officer to help lead that project and others.
Shannetta Griffin will join the authority as chief development officer in mid-July. Griffin previously worked on large-scale projects at the Atlanta and Indianapolis airports.