The Seattle Times has the story of a pretty major screwup at SeaTac Airport. This is leading to a bitter dispute between the airport and the construction company responsible for the project.
SeaTac Airport’s new international terminal has limited capacity
SeaTac Airport has seen a huge increase in international flights in recent years, reflecting the growth we’ve seen in Seattle in general. In 2022, the airport opened a new billion dollar international arrivals facility, intended to increase the airport’s capacity for international flights. The facility is 450,000 square feet, and is an addition to Concourse A in the terminal, connected to the South Satellite terminal by a walkway.
Like so many airport projects, this one was way over budget. The initial 2014 budget was $344 million, though over time the cost increased to $968 million. Unfortunately it’s now proving even more costly.
The terminal has 20 gates, and the intent was that all of those gates could be used by wide body jets at the same time. However, after construction was complete, it was determined that a design flaw means that only 16 wide body jets can use the terminal at a time, leading to a potential 20% shortfall in capacity.
Each gate is designed to accommodate certain wide body aircraft, with some gates being able to accommodate A330s and 787s, and other gates being able to accommodate 777s (which are larger). The gates need to be large enough not just to accommodate the planes, but also for the equipment needed to service aircraft, like fuel trucks, baggage trucks, and more.
Unfortunately after aircraft “fit checks” were performed, it was determined that four of the gates (A6, A8, S4, and S6) couldn’t accommodate the jets that they were supposed to. For example, gate A6 is supposed to accommodate a 777, but this is only possible by swinging the jet in an arc, and parking slantwise to the building, rather than pulling straight into the gate. However, that would mean that the adjacent gate A5 couldn’t be in use while this maneuver was being performed.
The Port of Seattle argues that if this isn’t resolved, it could cost the airport tens or hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of the project, and that this will leave the airport with an international flight capacity problem that this project was originally intended to solve.
An escalating legal dispute between the parties
For well over a year now, the Port of Seattle and Clark Construction (which was responsible for the project) have been in a legal dispute. The Port of Seattle argues that it will cost around $78 million to fix the issues with these four gates.
In December 2022, Clark Construction sued the Port of Seattle for $60 million, alleging it wasn’t paid for extra work done due to design changes, as well as extra costs from the pandemic.
In January 2023, the Port of Seattle countersued for $100 million, including the bill for the gate reconfiguration work that needs to be done.
The question comes down to which party is responsible for this design flaw. Clark Construction argues that “the current gate configuration is consistent with the Port-approved concourse study and meets the specifications and requirements per our contract.” The company argues that the contract documents defining the work “specifically state that Clark was to design the Project to accommodate narrowbody aircraft at Gates A6 and A8, not widebody aircraft.”
The Port of Seattle argues that “Clark has refused to engage with the Port to identify solutions.”
A King County Superior Court trial is now planned for December 2023. There are tens of millions of dollars at stake here, so it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
Bottom line
Airport construction is complicated, and it seems like we see major issues with new terminals more often than not. SeaTac Airport’s new international arrivals facility is supposed to accommodate 20 wide body jets, but can only fit 16 at a time, due to the layout. This is now leading to lawsuits between the Port of Seattle and the construction company responsible for the project.
It’s hard to know what exactly to make of this. I mean, you’d think that collectively, all parties would make sure there’s enough space at gates with the design before spending a billion dollars constructing something. That doesn’t seem like it should be rocket science.
The construction company claims that the gate configuration is consistent with the requirements per the contract, and that two of the gates weren’t even meant to be for wide body aircraft. If that’s true, then I’m not sure how the Port of Seattle could argue it’s the construction company’s fault at this point. But that’s also only one side of the story.
What do you make of this SeaTac Airport dispute?
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