Airports’ Expansion Is Design Firm’s Ticket

The surge in airline passenger traffic has many U.S. airports bursting at the seams, especially in California. And that’s boosting the fortunes of at least one design firm.

McClier Corp., a Chicago-based design and engineering firm that also has an office in Los Angeles, is drawing up plans to simultaneously upgrade or expand airports in San Diego, Ontario and San Luis Obispo over the next two years.

About one-quarter of McClier’s 400 employees are working on the projects, which have a combined price tag of $40 million.

But the airports are asking McClier to do more than merely accommodate the swelling number of passengers moving through their facilities. They also want designs that can help fend off passengers’ boredom and boost the airports’ bank accounts.

“Most airports are trying to increase their non-airline revenue,” mainly by adding more restaurants and other retail concession outlets, said Tom Rossbach, vice president of McClier’s aviation group.

The firm is also being asked to install more television monitors and interactive video programs along airport aisles. Some also want McClier to incorporate space for valet parking and even auto maintenance facilities so that travelers leaving their cars can have them washed and serviced by the time they return.

“Airports are getting much more entrepreneurial,” Rossbach said.

In San Diego, McClier is drawing up plans to improve Lindbergh Field’s international operations. The airport wants to add international gates and expand the facility that houses federal officials, including U.S. Customs and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

It’s only the latest improvement for Lindbergh. Just this week, the airport opened a 300,000-square-foot extension to its Terminal 2, complete with new restaurants and shops, sky-lit rotundas and an expanded baggage-handling facility.

The expansion of San Luis Obispo County Airport is needed to handle its “growing regional passenger demand,” and at Ontario, McClier is designing ticket counters, ramps and other facilities for four airlines moving into the airport’s new terminal: Southwest, Delta, American and Northwest.

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James F. Peltz can be reached at james.peltz@latimes.com