Big changes are coming to Spokane International Airport. 

To help outpace growth in the area, the airport is undertaking a large terminal project, relocating major utility infrastructure that runs through the area in front of it. The work will begin this summer.

“We have been planning this for the last 5 to 6 years, but this is the critical point of actually connecting it all,” said Todd Woodard, marketing and affairs director for the airport. 

The project will eventually allow for a combined baggage claim on the main floor, a security checkpoint on the second floor and an elevated connector bridge linking A and B concourses. The vision is to ease the movement between carriers and to make concessions more accessible. 

“If your daughter was flying to Boise on Alaska Airlines and you were going to L.A., on Delta. You guys could actually meet and have lunch,” Woodard said. 

Construction staging will close portions of the hourly parking area for use as a contractor laydown yard. Crews will relocate sidewalks, crosswalks and taxi pickup locations. Traffic patterns will also change. 

Starting in July, Airport Drive will be reduced to two lanes, followed by the construction of a temporary bypass road around late August. Crosswalks and pedestrian access points will shift, and workers will alter access to the main curb for pickups and drop-offs several times between now and August. 

Airport officials recommend travelers arrive at least two hours before departure. There will also be new signage and airport navigation aids.

The airport is introducing “Marshall,” the mascot and theme of the navigational aids and will have human wayfinder staff to assist confused passengers.

“The takeaway is to arrive early, and then your path from the garage or parking may have changed to the terminal, so follow ‘Marshall’ and pack your patience,” said Alannah Toft, the marketing and communications manager of the airport.  

The airport will host a lunchtime formal dedication ceremony May 26 for the concourse expansion.

The airport operates without tax dollars, funding improvements through leases, fees and concessions, Woodard said.

“We’re not necessarily building for today’s demand, or demand in five years,” said Toft, “It’s going to enable growth for the next 20 or 30 years.”