Displaying items by tag: Rick McQueen

Akron-Canton Airport will get a new facelift. A $34 million facelift, to be precise.

Rick McQueen, the soon-to-be-outgoing president and CEO of the Akron-Canton Airport, joined the Ray Horner Morning Show to discuss the changes happening at the facility. McQueen says the plans are to expand and update the airport for the modern-day traveler, complete with charging stations for cell phones and new restaurants and other amenities.

McQueen, who will be retiring at the end of 2018, believes the upgrades will help meet the needs of today for the regional airport, which opened its first terminal in 1955 and expanded seven years later. The project looks to be done in late 2019 or into early 2020.

The Akron-Canton Airport is reporting a 9% drop in passengers from 2016 to 2017. 

According to the data, 1.27 million passengers flew in and/or out of CAK in 2017, compared to 1.4 million the year before. That is the lowest number of air travelers at the airport in more than a decade. In an interview with WAKR News, CAK President and CEO Rick McQueen primarily cited Southwest Airlines exit from the airport in 2017 as the reason for the sharp drop. The airline gradually reduced their services at CAK throughout 2017. 

McQueen, who announced earlier this year that he would be retiring at the end of 2018, says they have had some victories during and then after the departure of Southwest, but it was a major hit, and it will take some time to recover completely. 

Akron-Canton Airport celebrates another milestone today -- the official opening of the newly-renovated ticket wing after more than $2.7 million dollars in renovations.

The work widens the area passengers have where the waiting lines are set up, including improvements to the outdoor entry way. Work continues on improvements to the parking lots.

.@CAKristie - "It's a beautiful morning to celebrate our 2.7 million dollar ticket wing!" pic.twitter.com/r4tXk1KhMG

— Akron-Canton Airport (@CAKairport) June 2, 2016

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(CAK) Keep calm and smile on because the Akron­Canton Airport's (CAK) newly renovated, 2.7 million dollar ticket wing upgrade is now complete. 

Designed by SoL Harris/Day Architects, of North Canton, Ohio, the new interior added more than 1,800 square feet of circulation space, LED lighting and huge windows. The exterior of the ticket wing features a dramatic glass canopy. 

"We wanted to create an even better airport experience for our customers with our ticket wing renovation,' said Rick McQueen, president and CEO. "More natural light and more circulation space make the check­in experience feel even better. We are delighted, too, that this project finished up prior to the RNC, the Bridgestone Invitational and the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions. Visitors will have a great first impression of our region because of these improvements." 

This project was funded by revenue from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airport improvement program, passenger facility charges (PFC), and airport operating revenue. Additionally, it is one of the final projects of the airport's CAK 2018 Capital Improvement Plan introduced in 2008. 

The ticket wing isn't the only thing undergoing a major facelift. Improvements and a reconfiguration of the airport's main campus parking lots – short­term, long­term A, long­term B and the cell phone waiting lot are still underway. 

Covered parking, new entrance and exit plazas and a commercial vehicle lane are features of the upgraded parking lots.