At RIC board meeting, passenger-facing changes take shape; modifications on the tarmac and beyond approved

A new look for Richmond International Airport should have a sense of Richmond’s nature, contrasts and local specialties, according to a select group of local residents and business leaders who gathered this spring.

That was the message from design firm 3North presenter Andrea Almond at this month’s Capital Region Airport Commission meeting June 30.

RIC will get a new look in a few years with a new consolidated checkpoint. With a future passenger-facing refresh in mind, a branded stakeholder engagement and charrette process event in April helped stimulate large vision and design guides.

Focused on airports, experiences and placemaking as reference points, the participants who are affiliated with Virginia Commonwealth University, advertising agencies and private industries like Altria, Dominion and CapitalOne felt that highlighting the James River and the outdoors, as well as the creative, quirky, gritty and welcoming attributes of the area, would give visitors a good sense of Metro Richmond.

Other ideas put forth said the airport design should convey the community, with diverse neighborhoods, festivals, makers, culture and hospitality.

“We talked about how building the checkpoint could be a good opportunity to do some of these things,” said RIC Chief Growth Officer Martin Rubenstein. “As we build a checkpoint, we'll have new entry lanes and new exit lanes, we asked: ‘What can we do in the design to represent the region better?’”

Focusing mostly on the design of the building, one idea was to embed an image of the James River with architectural elements and also portray the river through digital art.

“That's probably one of the best charrettes that I've participated in because we came out with some very real things I think are actionable in our design. In the presentation theme of our river runs through our city of contrasts, it’s really hyperlocal, it hits the nail on the head and I think we can translate that pretty easily when we start putting those elements into the design of the airport,” said RIC CEO Perry Miller.

“It'll be part of the design going forward with the checkpoint. And we will incorporate it into our [fixed base operators] and everywhere else that there's interaction with the passenger.”

Upon a motion made by chair Charles S. Macfarlane, the commission also unanimously approved a compensation package for Miller for the 2027 fiscal year that includes a base salary of $488,000, a single performance-based payment of $95,000, and a vehicle allowance of $18,000. Miller’s executive deferred compensation award of $35,000 and a retention arrangement payment of $63,000 are not payable immediately, but rather will be credited to Miller's deferred compensation account which vests no later than June 2028.

Commission approves contract, LEGO addition, equipment purchase

The CRAC also voted to approve four financial decisions that beef up RIC's operations, and may impact passengers’ experience positively.

The Commission awarded a contract for a complete closed-circuit television surveillance system (consisting of new cameras and associated infrastructure, to support monitoring of aircraft ramp operations and the baggage handling system) to M.C. Dean, a Tysons Corner-based firm that presented the lowest of three bids at $1.4 million.

The CRAC also approved the purchase of an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicle that does not utilize firefighting chemicals that contain PFAS chemicals that have impacted Eastern Henrico. The commission approved the purchase of a Rosenbauer Panther 6x6 ARFF vehicle for $1.3 million to comply with new state environmental regulations in conjunction with the transition from PFAS containing Aqueous Film Forming Foam to Fluorine Free Foam, which meets the mandate of the legislation.

And, the commission voted to approve the LEGO Systems Inc’s forthcoming regional distribution center, which requested to join the Richmond airport’s Foreign-Trade Zone. LEGO’s regional distribution center will be located in a 2 million square-foot warehouse facility in a 46-acre site located in Prince George County.

Being a part of RIC’s Foreign-Trade Zone means that foreign merchandise may be admitted without payment of customs duties or government excise taxes. LEGO joins 10 other Virginia companies that enjoy this benefit for a $12,000 yearly payment.

Finally, the CRAC voted to authorize the commission to apply for a $500,000 Federal Aviation Administration grant to design two new taxiway connectors.

Passenger numbers were down this spring and into the first part of the summer season due to geopolitical situations that have impacted the price of jet fuel and thus airline tickets.

“Fuel went from the mid-$2 per gallon range, then spiked up towards five. It's come back down in some sense, but that certainly has an impact,” Troy Bell, RIC communications director said during his passenger report. “When you listen to air carriers, they say there's no drop off in demand, but fares are up 20%.”

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.