New $1 billion Sacramento airport terminal opens

Sacramento International Airport's new terminal opened Thursday with a few hiccups but to generally positive reviews from passengers and visitors.

Arriving Hawaiian Airlines passengers at the $1 billion terminal had an early delay when their luggage piled up in the baggage claim area. And Alaska Airlines experienced delays at its ticket counter due to a glitch in its computer network that prevented its self-service ticketing kiosks from working.

But visitors generally liked the terminal's new open look and the $6 million worth of art — including a suspended 56-foot red aluminum rabbit leading passengers to baggage claim.

"It's beautiful," said Robert Howell of Los Angeles, who flew into Sacramento for the first time enroute to a family gathering. "My gosh, so easy to find things."

Alice Smith of Sacramento came early to pick up her mother-in-law and admire the art. She liked the giant aluminum rabbit in the terminal's center court. But she loved the computer-cut wooden puzzle that depicts the faces of actual Sacramento airport baggage handlers, and the big-screen displays of animated fish following a glass elevator as it moved between floors.

"We were enjoying the salmon swimming up the elevator," she said. "I could sit and watch that all day."

It was the kind of reaction the designers had hoped for as they replaced the airport's original Terminal B with one of the largest public works projects in Sacramento County history.

It created 2,400 construction jobs during the heart of the recession in the 2 1/2 years it was being built, as state and regional unemployment hovers around 12 percent. Officials delayed construction of a hotel and parking garage to cut its cost from the original $1.3 billion, but designed the structure to handle the 16 million passengers expected to fly through Sacramento each year by the late 2020s.

"It's going well," said airport spokeswoman Karen Doron. "We've had a few glitches, but considering the size and scope of the project, passengers are moving through."

The luggage delay for some of the first arriving passengers was because the baggage claim system worked as designed, she said. Bags reached the luggage carousel before the passengers could make their way from their gate using the new high-speed automated people mover, an elevated train-like shuttle. With bags piling up on the carousel, the system automatically shut itself down until baggage handlers could clear the congestion.

"I think the airlines are just working on timing on how long it takes to get to the baggage claim," Doron said.

Some visitors settled in as if they were at home. Liwen Mellinger of nearby El Dorado Hills brought out her knitting as she sat in a large wooden rocking chair overlooking the new concourse.

"I'm just trying to experience the ambiance of the new airport," she said after seeing her daughter off on a flight to Utah.

Others treated a vortex sculpture leading into a giant suitcase as if it were a wishing well, dropping in coins. Doron, the airport spokeswoman, said the offerings hadn't been anticipated, leaving airport officials to find something worthwhile to do with the money.

"That's the great thing about public art, is it's open to interpretation," said Doron, the airport spokeswoman. "Everyone has a different impression."