Memphis airport proceeds on B Concourse upgrade
Memphis' airport board awarded Flintco LLC a $122.5 million contract for the much-discussed B Concourse modernization.
Memphis International Airport earlier relocated airlines, restaurants and retailers from B Concourse to A and C concourses.
Flintco, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will oversee the installation in B Concourse of wider corridors, moving walkways, larger boarding areas, higher ceilings, seismic upgrades and more natural lighting.
The project, expected to take three years to complete, follows the closing of the passenger hub at Memphis International by Delta Air Lines five years ago.
During its long era as a hub, the airport handled more travelers who flew to Memphis only to change planes to reach their destination. More recently, officials have been consolidating services at the airport to serve a wider array of carriers boarding a larger share of passengers residing in Memphis and the Mid-South.
The board also awarded Aero BridgeWorks of Marietta, Georgia, a $32 million contract for new jet bridges. The bridges will connect passengers to aircraft parked at the boarding gates in B Concourse. The board decided to install new bridges rather than refurbish the present equipment.
“The end result will be a revolutionary new travel experience for Memphis passengers,” Scott Brockman, chief executive of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority Board of Commissioners, said in a statement released Thursday by the agency.
The projects are scheduled to begin next month and conclude early in 2021.
In May, airlines operating 86 scheduled flights at Memphis International boarded and unloaded 399,545 passengers, a 4.1 percent increase from the year before, the airport reported.