More than 40 years after the first flight departed from Tampa International Airport, the award-winning facility is preparing for decades of continued growth with a $1 billion expansion.
“And that’s going to allow us to remain in the existing terminal for another 20-plus years,” said John Tiliacos, Vice President of Operations and Customer Service at the airport in Tampa, Florida.
The multiyear project is designed to decongest the airport, which handled more than 16 million passengers in 2013, by relocating rental car operations to a new facility about a mile from the terminal. When it opened in 1971, the airport was the first in the world to use a people-mover system, and a new automated people-mover will connect the rental car facility and terminal.
“We want to make sure we stick to the core principles of the original designers of the terminal,” said Tiliacos, who has a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management from Florida Institute of Technology.
In addition, Tampa International will extend its transfer level, and revamp its concessions program in order to offer travelers greater variety and more brand-name options.
“It’s always more efficient to be able to operate out of one terminal as an airport versus two or three terminals,” Tiliacos said. “So we were very deliberate in terms of how we did this.”
Watch or read our interview with Florida Tech grad John Tiliacos to learn more about his career path and his responsibilities as Vice President of Operations and Customer Service at Tampa International Airport.