New terminal's food service may be lacking

After nearly three years of construction and 41 years of long-range planning, the new $117-million, 275,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art midfield passenger terminal is about to open at the Springfield-Branson National Airport. Put this opening date on your calendar: May 6, 2009.

As you will see in the February edition of 417 Magazine, the new terminal has lots of new bells and whistles: It’s all on one level. No chance to trip on stairs or an escalator. A cell-phone parking lot will provide easy pick-up of arriving passengers. No more circling while police glare. In addition to wireless Internet service throughout, every seat in waiting areas will have an electrical outlet so phones and laptops can stay juiced.

But what about food and drink? Historically the Springfield Airport has had unattractive and erratic food and drink service. A friend stranded recently until the wee hours because of delays of his Allegiant Flight back to Florida went without food and drink service for five hours after the café closed. Allegiant sent out for pizza.

At this time—and a contract has not been finalized—the new terminal will have exactly two “food service locations”. They’re not even calling them restaurants. One in the public, non-secure area, the second for passengers that have cleared security. Only the one in the public area will have bar service, which means a passenger sitting at a gate when they find out their flight is delayed has to leave the secure zone to get a beer to stew over his or her travel disruption. Then they have to go back through security every time they want to check if their plane is boarding. No bar service in the passenger area? I’ve met lots of nice people sitting elbow to elbow at a terminal bar watching a baseball or football game. No such encounters in Springfield.

Airport restaurants can be fun, profitable places. When we travel through Dallas, the Cantina Laredo is where we spend our layover time. Margueritas and chili con queso for two please. In Denver, Que Bueno Mexican Grill is often listed as one of the city’s best Mexican restaurants by our friends at 5280 Magazine. In Chicago you can eat at Chili’s, TGI Fridays, any of four McDonald's and three Starbucks... that's if Wolfgang Puck’s is out of your price range.

Yes, Dallas, Denver and Chicago have many times the arrival and departures of Springfield. But we get more than 800,000 passengers in and out in a year, plus another couple hundred thousand people who come to pick up and deliver those fliers. Don't a million stomachs a year deserve better restaurant and lounge service?

An airport board member says they tried. They sent out “requests for proposals” from both local and national food purveyors. Steak n Shake, Panera Bread, James Clary... all said thanks but no thanks. The reasons varied. For some, it was the hours. For others, it was the headache of staffing a restaurant to match the erratic nature of airport traffic. Some didn’t want the hassle of holding a liquor license.

It’s chicken and egg. To get fliers and the people who pick up and drop them off to buy lots of food and drink at an airport restaurant, the restaurant has got to have good food, good atmosphere and good service. For a good restaurant operator to extend his brand into the restaurant, there needs to be a guaranteed flow of customer traffic. Customers will come when the restaurant is right. The restaurants will come when they know the customers will.

The city, the Chamber, the airport board and airport staff are deservedly excited about the new terminal, and equally concerned about competition from the Branson Airport going online this spring as well. Improved restaurant service should be a priority.

What else would make the Springfield airport experience better for you? Let me know at garywhitaker@417mag.com.

Gary Whitaker, publisher

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