Passengers await their flight in the newly built terminal at the Santa Fe Regional Airport on Wednesday. After a much-hyped grand opening of the expansion in the spring, construction on the long-running project still isn't complete. But officials say passengers are pleased with the progress.
Project Manager James Garduno talks about the final details in Phase 1 of an expansion project that haven't been completed during a tour at the Santa Fe Regional Airport on Wednesday.
During a tour at the Santa Fe Regional Airport on Wednesday, Project Manager James Garduño shows off the airport's new exit chute, an area which still hasn't been approved for use.
Passengers await their flight in the newly built terminal at the Santa Fe Regional Airport on Wednesday. After a much-hyped grand opening of the expansion in the spring, construction on the long-running project still isn't complete. But officials say passengers are pleased with the progress.
A brightly colored mural of Shiprock at sunset adorns a wall of the new exit at the Santa Fe Regional Airport.
“Everybody will see this on the way out,” James Garduño, airport project manager, said Wednesday after removing a strip of yellow tape to get a closer look at the mural.
Until now, few people have seen the artwork, as ongoing construction delays have slowed a major airport expansion that was originally scheduled to be completed in January 2023.
An exit chute where the mural is located is awaiting approval from the Transportation Security Administration.
It isn’t the only project in the first phase of a highly touted terminal expansion that isn’t yet finished. Orange cones and construction workers abound.
Project Manager James Garduno talks about the final details in Phase 1 of an expansion project that haven't been completed during a tour at the Santa Fe Regional Airport on Wednesday.
While a short-term parking lot is completed, it remains fenced off without parking meters. A set of benches outside need to be stuccoed.
Landscaping? There isn’t any yet.
“During this project we had some personnel changes, [which] improved our team overall, but did result in delays,” City Manager John Blair said in a statement.
“We are still putting the finishing touches on the aesthetics, but the airport is fully functional,” he added.
Garduño, who became project manager two years ago, said he didn’t know exactly when the first phase of the expansion would be finished but anticipates it’ll be before the end of the year.
“In my construction meeting next week, I’ll know more details on what’s going on in the timeline, but that’s as far as I have for now,” he said.
Luis Reyes trenches for parking lot infrastructure Wednesday at the Santa Fe Regional Airport.
The ongoing delays come after the airport hosted a “sneak peek” of the newly built terminal in the spring.
Garduño said the event, which allowed members of the public to see the changes, wasn’t premature. He said it needed to occur before TSA deemed it a secure area.
“We really wanted the public to see the expansion of the new waiting area, and the only way to get them in there was to do it before it became secure,” he said. “We got a lot of people that day … that were just so happy to see what was going on and how taxpayer dollars were being used.”
Despite the unfinished touches, Garduño said air travelers are pleased with the improvements, including a new cafe.
“The customers are so happy,” he said.
“We have repeat customers who have been flying of out here for a long time, and those customers are just super excited and ecstatic that we have the coffee in the morning, we have the waiting area, we have the easy drop off; they’re super, super stoked,” he said. “A lot of the new people that have been coming, they don’t even realize how far we’ve come.”
Passengers hang out in the outdoor observation area inside security at the Santa Fe Regional Airport on Wednesday.
“Our airport has improved by leaps and bounds compared to where it was two years ago,” he said, adding a future project includes connecting the airport to N.M. 599, as well as building a parking garage.
The project, which includes new parking lots and a new, much bigger waiting area with an outdoor patio offering views of the Caja del Rio, broke ground in February 2022 but ran into a series of delays.
Airport Manager James Harris, who is out on paternity leave, was unavailable for comment. But he said in March the biggest setback was construction crews hitting several unmarked utility lines under what used to be dirt parking lots.
“We’ve hit probably every utility we have at the airport at least once,” he said at the time, adding delays in the $21.5 million project increased costs by about $8 million.
The city was unable to provide updated project costs Wednesday.
During a tour at the Santa Fe Regional Airport on Wednesday, Project Manager James Garduño shows off the airport's new exit chute, an area which still hasn't been approved for use.
Two future phases of the expansion, estimated at roughly $20 million each, will add another 36,000 square feet to the airport on top of the 8,000 square feet recently added, Harris said in March.
New Mexico’s congressional delegation also announced this week the Santa Fe Regional Airport would receive about $6.1 million of a total $33 million for airport upgrades across the state. The money will fund runway improvements, other pavement work and fencing, the delegation said in a news release.
The expansion and improvements stem from a growing number of passengers at the airport, which continues to pursue a third airline to serve Santa Fe or new flights from the existing carriers, United Airlines and American Airlines, to link the city to international airports in Chicago or Los Angeles.
While the airport is fully functional at this point, Garduño said it will be even better when the remaining work is completed.
“It was functioning before, but with all these amenities, it’s just going to run a lot smoother,” he said.
