St. Louis Lambert Airport leaders propose plan that would get rid of Terminal 2

Terminal 2 is home to Southwest Airlines, Lambert Airport's busiest airline.
But now a proposed plan has Southwest and every other airline flying out of Terminal 1.
"One of the things that we heard a lot from people is that they prefer a single-terminal concept," said Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge
Hamm-Niebruegge and the St. Louis Airport Authority are updating their Airport Layout plan, a critical planning tool that forecasts activity for the airport. Part of that plan would be to move all traffic to an updated terminal one with 62 gates.
"You know you'd like to keep the historic domes," said Hamm-Niebruegge. "And then think about how do you rebuild a single-terminal concept in phases until ultimately you've got it all completed and everybody's in one terminal."
From funding to design to construction, this project is still a long way from getting off the ground.
"If you think about the best of all worlds," Hamm-Niebruegge said, "some have happened in eight or nine years but a more realistic approach of start to finish is usually in that 10- to 11-year mark."
There will continue to be public input and the FAA has to sign off on the plan.

[@ruinzit9356]

How odd. Terminal 2 is newer and better all around. I used to work with TWA and TWE then later Southwest. Under the main terminal there needs ALOT of updating and rebuilding needed.

[@blueingreen1717]

More regressive political leadership in St. Louis. This is the dumbest thing I have heard in a long time. When airports update their infrastructure....it is to expand, not to shrink. Cities don't pour millions into their airport infrastructure to downsize. This is just further confirmation that it's a dying region.
They could simply renovate what they currently have. The current layout (which has already removed 20+ gates) leaves room for future expansion - a selling point. It has excess capacity (a good thing) that could be used to attract more international & domestic flights & airlines. The excess capacity also allows for flexibility. They want to take that out of the equation.
St. Louis was once one of the larger, busier airports in the nation (I used to work there myself). It had around 100 gates. It had the highest FAA category for airports. It was a 1st class, world class airport. The proposed plan will knock it down to a 3rd tier airport for what is quickly becoming a 3rd tier city. It's a clear indication that the politicians have given up on the region. Why bother pouring millions into downsizing it? That money could go to more pressing needs. It makes no sense considering the airport (just in the past 20 years or so...relatively recent in infrastructure terms) just went through an expansion....just built a new terminal (only 15-20 years old)..and built a new runway. They did all of that just to spend millions more a couple of decades later to tear the newer terminal down and shrink the size of the airport? It is beyond idiotic.
If you want to attract new corporations to bring their jobs or HQ's here....a smaller downsized, 3rd tier airport won't be a big selling point.
In terms of size and capacity...St. Louis International was once on par with Dallas, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, Houston, Miami, Philly, Seattle, Boston, Phoenix, and other top tier airports. It was once in the top 12 and sometimes in the top 10 in traffic. St. Louis is currently firmly in the small major airport category with the likes of New Orleans, Memphis, Cleveland, KC, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, & Minneapolis. Still respectable. This new plan will knock St. Louis down even further. This plan will put St. Louis on par with 3rd tiers like Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Nashville, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Birmingham, Austin, Ft. Lauderdale, Tallahassee, Columbus, etc.
This is not how you rebuild & revitalize a city or a region. The money that they plan to waste on this could go towards so many other pressing needs.