Little Rock airport puts electric outlets, ports at all seats

Power supplied to 806 chairs

John Park of New York uses a phone charging outlet built into his seat at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field in Little Rock while waiting for a flight.
John Park of New York uses a phone charging outlet built into his seat at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field in Little Rock while waiting for a flight.

Travelers will have no more worries about finding a place to charge their cellphones while waiting for a flight at the state's largest airport.

Every seat in the concourse at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field -- 806 in all -- now is equipped to allow passengers to charge their cellphones and other personal electronic devices.

The high-tech seats replaced ones that were installed when the concourse was built nearly 50 years ago.

"It was time," said Ron Mathieu, executive director of Clinton National. "I think the seats are being very warmly received. All in all, we're very pleased with the outcome. What a difference it makes."

The new seats are part of a $26 million makeover of the concourse that includes what the airport has billed as the world's fastest airport Wi-Fi connection, technology to boost cellphone coverage, renovated gate areas, jet bridges, flooring, additional bathrooms and other improvements.

Still to come: upgraded retail and food offerings on the concourse, a station for nursing mothers and a pet relief room, the latter now required by the Federal Aviation Administration to be available on the concourse, as well as upgraded signs and flight status displays.

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The new seats, installed over the course of a week beginning Aug. 6, cost nearly $700,000. Every seat has regular outlets as well as quick-charging USB ports.

Mathieu said he knew of no other airport in the United States that could make a claim to have charging stations available in all the concourse gate seats, which are beyond the passenger screening area.

Paul Koebbe, a senior systems consultant for Faith Group LLC, a St. Louis-based consulting firm focusing on technology, said the claim is no idle boast.

"I've never seen one that has charging stations at every seat -- it's something that every traveler is looking for," said Koebbe, who has 35 years of experience in the security and information technology industry, including eight years with Faith Group, which has Clinton National as a client.

Faith Group has done consulting work on a total of 75 airports. Koebbe said he visits about 25 airports a year.

When it comes to technology, "Clinton National Airport is pushing the envelope," Koebbe said.

More typical are airports like Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill. Kelly Johnson, the airport director at Northwest, said the airport's two concourses have a variety of charging options, including three sides of each support column and four or five stations with multiple charging options.

"There's enough that we don't worry about it," she said. "We don't get any complaints."

The work on the concourse at the Little Rock airport began in earnest about a year ago, with much of it done during off-peak hours. It was a follow-up to a $67 million remake of the airport's terminal that was dedicated four years ago. The earlier work included the installation of an automated baggage handling system.

Jim Dailey, the chairman of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission, took a brief tour of the concourse Tuesday and tried out one of the seats.

"It looks good, very modern looking," said Dailey, who once sold furniture. "It's comfortable and it's indestructible."

Metro on 08/16/2017

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