A remodel of the terminal building is among the items on the to-do list for the transition to SkyWest Airlines at the Vernal Regional Airport. According to airport manager Doug Brown, designs for the terminal remodel have gone back and forth with TSA but a final plan is basically there. “We hope to have a contractor selected by the end of March so construction could be done by the beginning of May,” says Brown. Regardless of the hypothetical timeline, Brown says everything will be in place for the transition in June. The remodel includes tearing out the divider wall between the inbound and outbound traffic areas and building a new wall that essentially swaps the space. TSA will make their offices in the area that is currently the Enterprise office. The TSA and Skywest equipment require a lot more room, shares Brown, so the remodel will completely change the inside design of the building. “What we really need is a new terminal building,” says Brown. “There are people that want to wait until we reach 10,000 enplanements but I worry if we wait too long to plan then we’ll be in trouble.” Brown hopes that planning can begin sooner rather than later. “This time next year we will be doing a new Airport Master Plan funded by the FAA which will dictate where funding can be utilized,” explains Brown. “It would be good to have a plan in place so we could hopefully ask what they could do to help with a terminal building.” The date for the transition from Boutique Air to Skywest is scheduled for
June 26th.
