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A Message from President and CEO, Ronald F. Mathieu:
As we look forward to the busy summer travel season, it seems the perfect time to share some news with you. It's time to make way for the future - and that means taking critical steps to improve parking here at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.
After a nearly year-long review of the parking operation and a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities in front of us, the Birmingham Airport Authority (BAA) Board has set in motion a Parking Modernization Plan that will bring new technology, more capacity, and a smoother parking experience for airport customers. We know that parking is an important part of the customer experience. As passenger traffic continues to grow, we have a lot of work to do to give travelers the modern, seamless experience they deserve. Managing parking facilities is a full-time job and an expensive one as well. Rest assured - we're on it!
Last year, the BAA spent about $1.7 million to maintain the parking deck. During our busiest days of the year, the parking deck was often full or near capacity. The Economy Lot filled up too, which led our team to open the Economy Extension Lot and at times, the Economy Overflow Lots. While these additional areas certainly give us more space for parking, it is a temporary solution. It's time for meaningful, permanent solutions that can take us into the future.
Parking Rates have not been increased at this airport since 2008. To pay for the needed improvements, BAA has restructured rates. The new rates will take effect July 1, 2025.
We realize no one wants to pay more to park. We are working to provide you with the information you need to know about these upcoming changes. You can learn more about the rate changes and the improvements that are in the works by checking out the information that we shared with the community on April 4th.
The changes you can expect include new technology to assist drivers in finding open spaces in the parking deck. We will also replace the aging equipment used for payment at the exit lanes so customers can count on a speedy departure.
We will reconfigure how we use the first level of the parking deck so that visitors will have more access to rental cars. Space constraints are currently causing rental car companies to turn visitors away. The reconfiguration will involve relocating oversize parking to the Economy Lot while maintaining handicap-van accessible spaces on the first level. We also plan to recommend the redevelopment of the Economy Lot into a remote complex that will be a huge improvement for customers and will give us more capacity. We're looking at approximately $50 million worth of improvements in the next few years. As we grow, we will eventually need to add new parking facilities in various locations.
If you would like to engage with us regarding our plans for parking, please feel free to email us here. We appreciate your interest in BHM and look forward to serving you during your next trip to or from Birmingham.
Ron
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