Airport Planning Redevelopment of International Terminal, Again

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport International Terminal. Photo by Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport officials are again trying to develop a new international terminal.

The airport’s current international terminal is outdated and sits in a small, standalone structure, limiting its utility and the flights that can operate out of the facility.

In 2015, airport officials began working on plans for redeveloping the terminal. In 2017, then-interim airport director Brian Dranzik went to the county board with plans to redevelop the disused Concourse E into a new international terminal. At the time, the project was estimated to cost $53.5 million.

The 2020 capital budget shows the county had budgeted a total of approximately $50 million for the project since 2017 through a combination of airport reserves, passenger fees and debt. The budgeted funds were allocated toward design and construction.

Then, three months into the year, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and air travel plummeted bringing the airport’s revenues and passenger fees with it. The project was put on ice.

The county recently began soliciting bids for the demolition of Concourse E and the construction of a new international terminal. However, it remains uncertain whether the project will move forward.

In March, Dranzik told Ethan Duran of The Daily Reporter that inflationary pressures had increased the likely cost of the project to an estimated $80 million. The airport plans to go after grant funding available from the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, for the project.

“We do not have any funding announcements to make at this time,” a spokesperson for the airport told Urban Milwaukee. “But we are being proactive so that we are ready to go once funding becomes available.”

The current international terminal was built in 1975 and has a capacity of 140 passengers. It has one gate which can only accommodate one Group III aircraft at a time. This limits the ability of the airport to serve larger aircraft common on long-haul flights. Larger 767 and 787 aircraft can carry more than 200 passengers.

It also can only process arrivals. Departing passengers fly out of the main airport terminal. Passengers with connecting flights also have to use ground transportation to get to the main terminal to catch their connection.

In 2018, the airport presented data to the county board showing that Milwaukee Mitchell is popular for domestic flights, capturing approximately 81% of all local travelers when flights are nonstop and 73% when flights are connecting. The numbers for international travel pale in comparison, with Milwaukee Mitchell only capturing 35% of local international travelers.

The plans for the new facility — before the pandemic — included demolition of the 66,000 square-foot Concourse E and construction of a new 55,700 square-foot international terminal. It would have room for 300 to 400 passengers at a time, allowing the airport to handle more than 175,000 international passengers a year.

The new facility would also connect directly to the main airport terminal, eliminating the connectivity challenges for current international travelers. In other words, passengers will no longer have to shiver in a Wisconsin winter while they wait for a shuttle to their international flight.

Concourse E was shuttered in 2017. It was last used by United Airlines and Air Canada. All but two of the gates are located in a circular area at the end of the terminal.

Concourse E in February 2020 at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

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