Phoenix plans new West terminal at Sky Harbor as airlines reach gate limits

Chad Makowski, the City of Phoenix aviation director, said the city is planning a new West terminal at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport to relieve gate constraints at the existing terminals and accommodate long‑term passenger growth.

Makowski told Councilman Jim Waring on “On the Issues” that Terminal 4 is full, Terminal 3 will add a six‑gate North Concourse in 2027, and the blank footprint left by removed Terminals 1 and 2 is the planned site for a large new West terminal. "We're in the environmental review process right now and it's our hope that in the early 2030s we're going to be in serious construction on that new West Terminal, which could be 50 to 60 gates in total," Makowski said.

The new terminal matters because Sky Harbor already has about 120 gates across Terminals 3 and 4 and two large airlines — American and Southwest — occupy Terminal 4 under preferential use agreements. Makowski explained that Terminal 3 uses common‑use gates the city manages, while Terminal 4 gates are subject to "preferential use agreements" that give those carriers first rights on the gates they occupy. That dynamic, he said, is one reason the city is planning a West terminal: "If both of those airlines want to continue to grow, we need to actually figure out how to move one of those two big airlines out of that terminal to give the other one the opportunity to continue to grow. That's really where the new West Terminal comes into play."

Makowski gave a rough cost expectation for a terminal of that scale: "We talk in billions when we talk about new terminals... we would expect to be in probably the $3 to $4 billion range at that time." He described the project timetable as constrained by federal environmental requirements: "It takes me three to five years just to go through an environmental review, and then it takes another two years for design, and then another three to four, five years of construction to actually open that up." The city has begun airline outreach; Makowski said airlines will confidentially submit growth plans and the airport will use that information to determine which carriers will move into the new facility.

Discussion only: Makowski repeatedly characterized the timing and scale as planning assumptions rather than final commitments and emphasized community stewardship: "Sky Harbor Airport is a community asset, so we want to make sure we're not spending money building a bunch of gates we'll never need." He said the mayor announced the new terminal concept at a State of the City address and that the environmental review is ongoing.

Next steps include continued environmental review, detailed design work and confidential airline consultations. Makowski said the airport is seeking to match long‑range airline demand with community needs before committing to construction.