By Tom Flanigan
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-847684.mp3
Tallahassee, Fl – Summertime is travel time for many folks. And since the Tallahassee Regional Airport remains a popular point of departure for area travelers, Tom Flanigan stopped by to check on the progress of the airport's building program. If you're strolling through the terminal and see a guy holding rolls of blueprints as he strides purposefully around the concourse, it's probably Michael Clow. He's the guy in charge of the airport's capital improvement plan. Also, big improvements to baggage claim, security check-in and air-side vending areas. Clow says the next project is a big one, although it will be invisible to passengers and casual visitors to the airport. What will it take to give Tallahassee's airport its own version of energy independence (which, Clow says, is twice the current power consumption of the facility, so there's room to grow)? Does all of this mean a big hit on City taxpayers? The problem is that local airport traffic has been falling over the past four years from just over a million passengers in 2005, to a bit over seven-hundred thousand last year; this equals a drop of some twenty-five percent in the money that pays for terminal work. That's why airport officials were happy to receive nearly three million dollars of combined federal and state help recently. Clow says that will pay for things like a new terminal security system, front doors and repairs to a notoriously leaky roof. Clow thinks things are looking up. Especially since the airport added a trip-cost-calculator to its web site to show the total cost of using out-of-town airports as well as the addition of American Eagle service to Dallas and return of Delta in-state flights. Another good sign: American Eagle's quicker-than-expected addition of more Dallas flights starting in August.