This week, nearly 40 executives and board members of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority met with several consultants to plan for what John Glenn Columbus International Airport will look like in the future.

For one, it won't include the current terminal building, where the meeting was held.

Increased passenger traffic and post-9/11 security demands mean the current terminal won't meet needs in the years ahead. That has airport officials advocating for a new terminal and associated buildings.

The latest cost estimate for the project is $2 billion, a number that's steadily escalated over the years that the idea has been discussed.

Planning for a terminal that's 15 to 18 years away from opening may not seem urgent. But the first piece of the puzzle will be evident by next spring.

A new, standalone rental car facility west of the existing terminal, just north of where the new terminal building is planned. The cost of that new facility, which isn't included in the future terminal estimate, is about $105 million.

The existing terminal, which dates to 1958, will remain in use until the new one is built.

The time to "pull the trigger" on building that new terminal is expected to come when the airport hits 8.8 million passengers per year — it's currently at about 7.5 million — or by 2028, whichever comes sooner.

This is an important time for the airport. Elaine Roberts, CEO of the airport authority, which oversees the John Glenn Airport and others, plans to retire in December. It was Roberts who initiated the long-term planning process for a new terminal not long after she arrived in Columbus 17 years ago.

"I knew there was a lot of planning time and lead time involved," she said. "You're looking at a really good seven years (construction time) to get everything done before cutting the ribbon on a new terminal."

Roberts noted that the $2 billion estimate is very preliminary. She said the new terminal project currently underway in Salt Lake City now will cost about $3 billion, while Indianapolis' new terminal, which opened in 2008, cost about $1 billion by the time it was finished.

A search for a successor for Roberts is underway. Meanwhile, the authority this summer hired Shannetta Griffin as chief development officer. Her main focus will be overseeing the new-terminal project, or what will be dubbed the One International Gateway project in communications to the public.

Planning also comes at a time of change in the airline industry. The major "legacy" carriers have consolidated to just three. They are trimming service in many places while low-cost carriers are growing to fill a void.

Hovering over the plan is the big question of how to pay for it. Airport leadership emphasizes that no tax dollars will be used.

Millions of dollars will need to be borrowed, but Roberts vows that the airport authority will so responsibly. Some of the increased cost will need to be passed on to airlines in the form of higher rates and charges.

The airport authority is a public port authority created under state law and is self-supporting through revenue from parking, concessions, rental car fees and on-airport hotel operations, among other things. Its board is appointed jointly by the city of Columbus and Franklin County.

A current question mark in terms of funding is the passenger facility charges that are added to ticket purchases and used to fund airport projects. They have been capped at $4.50 per flight segment — each airport-to-airport leg of a passenger's trip — for 15 years. That amount that may or may not change when a permanent Federal Aviation Authority re-authorization bill finally is passed by Congress.

Two board members at this week's meeting asked about the possibility of using a public-private partnership to build at least part of the project. A few airports around the country, including St. Louis, are considering a completely privatized terminal project.

The idea of turning over an airport terminal project to private developers under an FAA test program is intriguing to some. Andrew Deye, director of strategy for JobsOhio and a former investment banker, wrote a piece for Governing magazine last year examining the use of public-private partnerships airports. Deye referred to the potential "value creation" of such deals.

Private developers could be willing to pay more than half a billion dollars upfront for the rights to build, operate and collect revenue from a new terminal at John Glenn Airport under a long-term deal.

That money could be used by the city for any number of purposes, including other transportation projects — conceptual plans include space for a potential light rail stop at the new terminal — air service development or even social programs. Under the traditional scheme, money generated by an airport cannot be taken "off-airport" for other uses.

Roberts said "all options are on the table" in terms of financing, although at the recent meeting on the subject, the financing discussion focused on the airport issuing bonds and using cash from operations.

Andrew Vasey, an Indianapolis-based aviation consultant who has worked on airport and airline projects around the world, is a proponent of airport privatization. He said the money a city can garner from such projects can be "transformative" and benefit a community for generations in a number of areas.

It's this bigger picture that drives the argument for airport development. There is no guaranteed correlation between building a new terminal and getting more air service or passengers, Roberts and Vasey said.

But airport projects are widely seen as major economic drivers. On its website, the airport authority says the new terminal plans are designed to "fuel economic growth and solidify our position as a key global gateway."

"Airports have evolved to be much more than places to catch planes," said Stephen Lyons, executive vice president of the Columbus Partnership, an organization of top local leaders.

"They have become important hubs of mobility for cities of the future. Moving people and cargo in and out of our region is critically important to elevating our competitiveness."

For more information and ongoing updates, visit https://flycolumbus.com/about-us/new-terminal

mrose@dispatch.com

@MarlaMRose