Airport Commission Approves $1.5 Million Terminal Design Deal

Other Committee · Meeting of February 3, 2026

Nantucket Airport Commission approves $1.5 million design deal despite capacity doubts. Commissioners voted 4-0 to let consultant Rich Lazden of McFarland Johnson begin designing a terminal hold room expansion, growing capacity from 313 to 361 seats while eliminating the airport's longtime overflow tent. Airport Manager Warren Smith said a worst-case scenario, with five jets loaded at once, could produce 578 hold-room passengers.

Commissioner Leavitt called that reassurance misleading, noting last summer's actual peak traffic already topped 478 passengers, and said "anybody who sat in that hold room waiting for a flight knows that it's just too damn small." The project hinges on a competitive federal grant, with 588 airports nationally seeking $7.1 billion against roughly $1 billion available. Commissioner Bouskarin compared the gamble to poker: "You got to pay 3 million to get in the game."

In the full story:

• The complete report, 1,031 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of February 3, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.