Little Rock leaders and members of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport team welcomed U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on site Wednesday to check out the construction of a new taxiway and talk about the importance of safety.
Buttigieg’s visit to Little Rock was one destination in a string of visits at airports this week. He’s headed to talk about safety in Texas and Oklahoma next. During his Arkansas stop, he took a tour of the tower, shook hands with the folks involved in the taxiway construction and joined in a press conference where he took a few questions.
“It is a marvel that a form of transportation that involves flying miles above the surface of the Earth in a metal tube at nearly the speed of sound results in millions of Americans being returned safely to Earth every single year,” Buttigieg said. “And yet it’s something that we all but take for granted, yet we must not.”
The new $61 million taxiway is in the midst of construction. Phase one has been completed, but there’s still phases two, three and four to get through. Shane Carter, the communications director for the airport, said that the route should be completed by 2024. A chunk of the funding — $31 million to date — comes from federal dollars, Carter said.
The taxiway will do away with a “hot spot” five-way intersection for planes traveling on the ground. Buttigieg said that the last thought he wants on a passenger’s mind while they’re waiting for take-off is whether there’s a design-safety issue.
“I want you to be able to take a nap,” Buttigieg said. “And for the rest of us to be worrying about that so you don’t have to. That’s why we need to be investing in the design that makes it harder for problems to come up in the first place, while also investing in the human factor.”
Buttigieg arrived on time for a politician, which means that he arrived at the construction site about an hour after he was scheduled to. He looked so chipper and comfortable walking out of the bus with city officials onto the brightly cemented taxiway that it felt like the waiting wasn’t so bad after all.
He said that the federal funds are helping to “reduce confusion and risk” on the airfield. Buttigieg noted an increase in “close calls” happening on runways and at gates, in control towers and flight decks. He said that to counter these mistakes, investments are being made in people and equipment. Buttigieg said the most important thing is to make sure there is no impact on the typical traveler.
He offered some comedic relief following Mayor Frank Scott Jr.’s introduction, saying that Scott was responsible for the good weather in Little Rock Wednesday. When the weather’s bad, it’s the county’s fault, Buttigieg, a former mayor, said.
A handful of city directors, a couple of airport commissioners and Buttigieg’s predecessor, Rodney Slater, were present. Airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski thanked all of the agencies and people who worked together to get the construction underway. Additionally, he said that the airport is working with the FAA to modernize the 50-year-old terminal and add a new baggage claim.
Dustin McCabe, FAA air traffic manager at the airport, attested to the variety of air travel at LIT. “Anything we can do to simplify the airfield helps us do our job and keep everyone safe,” he said.
Buttigieg briefly touched on a study that could bring a deck park over some lanes of Interstate 30. He said that he and Scott discussed it some during the visit, and he was positive about the move to reconnect parts of the city that were divided mostly along racial lines with the construction of the highway.
Brian Chilson