Long Beach Improvements Moving Along

The Long Beach Press-Telegram provides a quick update on the upgrades going on at Long Beach Airport, which have really gotten going this month. The current large task is the construction of a $49-million new parking garage that will provide additional capacity while reducing congestion.

But the most important upgrade, I think is a terminal expansion, which means that the current double-wide trailers utilized by JetBlue and other airlines will be gone over the next few years, a move that will make both airlines and their passengers very happy. In fact, the delays on airport upgrades have made JetBlue, the airport's biggest tenant, pretty angry.

On the green front, the airport will also be electrifying its parking stands, allowing aircraft to use the airport's own power by plugging then in. Currently, aircraft use their auxiliary power units, or APUs, to power things like air conditioning while the plane is on the ground. That's good for airlines because it cuts back on jet fuel usage, and therefore reduces fuel cost for airlines and the aircraft emissions in the community.

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