CITY & REGION NFTA spending $1.3 million on more comfortable seats at Buffalo Niagara Airport By Robert J. McCarthy (mailto:rmccarthy@buffnews.com) | News Political Reporter | @bobmccarthybn (https://twitter.com/bobmccarthybn) on January 16, 2016 11:09 AM, updated January 16, 2016 at 11:54 AM
(http://www.buffalonews.com/storyimage/BN/20160116/CITYANDREGION/160119335/AR/0/AR 160119335.jpg&maxW=960) Joe Masucci of Atlanta sits in the new seats at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Cheektowaga Friday, January 15, 2016. Mark Mulville/Buffalo News
Approximately 42 million fannies have plunked down into terminal seats since 1997, and now Buffalo Niagara International Airport officials think it’s time for new ones. Seats, that is. As a result, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is replacing the airport’s 2,322 seats in a $1.3 million program slated for completion by March 31. The new seats are wider, provide more leg room, and many come equipped with the amenities demanded by modern air travelers. The replacements are “an upgrade that was needed,” NFTA spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer said. “In an effort to enhance our customers’ overall experience while in our airport, we are replacing all of our hold room seats that are now over 18 years old,” he said. “They will provide a more relaxing and comfortable seat, while providing new amenities such as cup holders and access to power for cell phone and laptop charging. “It was time after 18 years,” he added, pointing to current seating marked by worn and torn cushions. Most of the new chairs are gray toned and feature cup holders only on the end seats, but groups of four blue chairs are interspersed throughout waiting areas with cell phone ports, power outlets and cup holders. Already, airport travelers are settling into their new accommodations installed over the past few days beginning at the west end of the concourse near Gates 13. On Saturday