What Happened To The Airport’s Moving Walkways?

A moving walkway at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Photo taken July 18, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

You’ve probably never thought about how much those mechanical sliding walkways at airports cost. As it turns out, they cost a lot.

At Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE), one of the four moving walkways connecting the daily parking structure to the main terminal is broken and has been for quite some time.

A sign posted in the airport claims it would cost $12 million to replace.

Where did that figure come from?

The $12 million figure is the quote from the manufacturer to replace all four walkways, according to a spokesperson for the airport. They are manufactured and maintained by the Kone Corporation, a Finnish multinational corporation specializing in elevators and escalators.

Kone officials assessed the walkways and determined they are beyond their useful life. They incorporate parts that are no longer manufactured. The walkways, said the airport, have been a challenge to maintain for years.

The corridor they occupy, fortunately, is not highly trafficked. Depending on where you park you might never see them. And the corridor itself isn’t very long, only 600 feet.

The airport hasn’t planned to replace them. The $12 million quote supplied by Kone isn’t in its five-year infrastructure plan. It does, though, have $219,000 budgeted for planning, which will develop an idea of what to do with the hallway and its aging mechanical walkways.

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