Indianapolis International Airport Update
Airport is 1st to go smoke-free outside
Indoor lounge and OK to puff outdoors will be gone in 2008
June 16, 2007? By Karen Eschbacher
Indianapolis International Airport is going smoke-free, although a public smoking lounge will remain open through the end of the year to give airport employees more time to kick the habit.
1 person speaks up against smoking ban
June 2, 2007
Zach Dunkin
All Brett Safewright wants is a compromise.
Want to weigh in?
You can voice your opinion on the proposed airport smoking ban at a public hearing at 8:30 a.m. June 15 at Indianapolis International Airport. You can also email comments to webfeeback@baai.com.
The 50-year-old real estate salesman from Indianapolis was the lone citizen to address the Indianapolis Airport Authority board on its proposed smoking ban, which would prohibit smoking on all airport property. A final hearing is set for June 15. If passed, the all-campus ban would be the first for a U.S. airport.
“There’s only one group here that could possibly be inconvenienced by this order, and that is the smokers,” said Safewright.
“I would ask the people here to reconsider banning smoking altogether. I would ask you to go along with a spirit of compromise. I’m sure you’re all aware that we smokers have been asked to participate in a spirit of compromise. A forced compromise.”
Following Safewright’s statement, board President Lacy Johnson said the board would welcome any other comments up to and on June 15 before the voting. The ordinance would close the airport’s smoking room July 31; all other areas, including sidewalks, garage and parking lots, would be smoke-free by Jan. 1.
Johnson said he has received several letters from citizens in support of the ban.
So far, only one board member has spoken out against it. Robert Voorhies, retired president of the Central Indiana Central Labor Council, said he is more concerned about government intrusion than the smoking.
“I expect there’ll be some more conversation in two weeks than there was today,” he said.
GENERAL IND INFORMATION
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By John Smith, Indianapolis International Airport
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Question:?? Where is smoking allowed at IND?
Answer:?? IND provides designated smoking areas.? Smoking is only permitted in the Smoking Lounge located off the hallway to the left of the Air Tran ticket counters or outside of the terminal buildings.? Indiana law prohibits smoking within 30 feet of all entrances to public buildings.? For your convenience, ashtrays are located in the vicinity where smoking is permitted.
Answer:?? IND provides designated smoking areas.? Smoking is only permitted in the Smoking Lounge located off the hallway to the left of the Air Tran ticket counters or outside of the terminal buildings.? Indiana law prohibits smoking within 30 feet of all entrances to public buildings.? For your convenience, ashtrays are located in the vicinity where smoking is permitted.
Policy would force airport smokers to find a new destination
Vote today may set Indianapolis International Airport on path to being 1st in U.S. to make entire grounds smoke-free
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May 18, 2007
Vote today may set Indianapolis International Airport on path to being 1st in U.S. to make entire grounds smoke-free
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May 18, 2007
Indianapolis International Airport is getting ready to have a smoke-free terminal and become the first U.S. airport to ban smoking on all its property, meaning smokers wouldn’t be able to walk outside to have a cigarette.
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At its meeting today, the Indianapolis Airport Authority board also is expected to vote to close the airport’s public smoking room by July 31. The second phase of the proposed ban would prohibit smoking on all airport-owned property by Jan. 1.
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At least 119 airport buildings in the United States are smoke-free, according to the latest tally by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, which says none has taken the step of banning smoking on all airport property.
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“There are very few major airports where you can still smoke,” said Bronson Frick, associate director of the federation. “The days are numbered for indoor smoking, not just in airports but for any indoor workplace or public place.
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“Airports are trying to have a healthier work force, plus are looking at ways to cut health-care costs and the costs of cleaning the room and buying and maintaining expensive ventilation equipment.”
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Board members would not discuss the agenda before the meeting, said Patzetta Trice, vice president for communications, marketing and air service for airport operator BAA.
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The new policy would affect not only passengers, but also people who work at the airport, from Transportation Security Administration TSA officials to concessionaires to pilots.
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At its meeting today, the Indianapolis Airport Authority board also is expected to vote to close the airport’s public smoking room by July 31. The second phase of the proposed ban would prohibit smoking on all airport-owned property by Jan. 1.
?
At least 119 airport buildings in the United States are smoke-free, according to the latest tally by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, which says none has taken the step of banning smoking on all airport property.
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“There are very few major airports where you can still smoke,” said Bronson Frick, associate director of the federation. “The days are numbered for indoor smoking, not just in airports but for any indoor workplace or public place.
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“Airports are trying to have a healthier work force, plus are looking at ways to cut health-care costs and the costs of cleaning the room and buying and maintaining expensive ventilation equipment.”
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Board members would not discuss the agenda before the meeting, said Patzetta Trice, vice president for communications, marketing and air service for airport operator BAA.
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The new policy would affect not only passengers, but also people who work at the airport, from Transportation Security Administration TSA officials to concessionaires to pilots.
Nonpassengers seem to frequent the smoking lounge more than passengers, Trice said.
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A check from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday of the room, which is off a hallway to the left of the Air Tran ticket counter, found 21 airport, security and airline workers using it. There wasn’t one passenger.
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Airport and TSA employees, whose office is next door, were restricted from speaking to the media, but some indicated they had heard about the ordinance and were not pleased.
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Passengers such as Conny Conway, Greenwood, were able to speak their minds and did. Conway, who didn’t know about the smoking lounge, smokes outside on a bench near the passenger drop-off area.
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“I think it’s very rude,” Conway said. “We already smoke where they tell us to smoke, while everyone else can go wherever they please. If the people who don’t smoke stay away from these areas, they shouldn’t complain.
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“You cannot make the decision for me if I want to smoke or not.”
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Fred Parker, Westfield, was getting in a last few puffs before departing for Fort Myers, Fla.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “They treat us like lepers everywhere we go. Indiana has cold winters, and people like me have to come out here in the cold and smoke.
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“If they ban smoking here, I’ll just have to go farther away to smoke somewhere else.”
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Jason Klein, a nonsmoker from Chicago who was on his way to Atlanta, was indifferent about the airport’s possible smoke-free status. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport allows smoking outside the terminal.
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“I didn’t even know there was a smoking area here, so it really has no effect on me,” he said. “As long I don’t see them or smell it, it makes no difference to me.”
Contact Star reporter Zach Dunkin at (317) 444-6079.
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A check from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday of the room, which is off a hallway to the left of the Air Tran ticket counter, found 21 airport, security and airline workers using it. There wasn’t one passenger.
?
Airport and TSA employees, whose office is next door, were restricted from speaking to the media, but some indicated they had heard about the ordinance and were not pleased.
?
Passengers such as Conny Conway, Greenwood, were able to speak their minds and did. Conway, who didn’t know about the smoking lounge, smokes outside on a bench near the passenger drop-off area.
?
“I think it’s very rude,” Conway said. “We already smoke where they tell us to smoke, while everyone else can go wherever they please. If the people who don’t smoke stay away from these areas, they shouldn’t complain.
?
“You cannot make the decision for me if I want to smoke or not.”
?
Fred Parker, Westfield, was getting in a last few puffs before departing for Fort Myers, Fla.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “They treat us like lepers everywhere we go. Indiana has cold winters, and people like me have to come out here in the cold and smoke.
?
“If they ban smoking here, I’ll just have to go farther away to smoke somewhere else.”
?
Jason Klein, a nonsmoker from Chicago who was on his way to Atlanta, was indifferent about the airport’s possible smoke-free status. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport allows smoking outside the terminal.
?
“I didn’t even know there was a smoking area here, so it really has no effect on me,” he said. “As long I don’t see them or smell it, it makes no difference to me.”
Contact Star reporter Zach Dunkin at (317) 444-6079.
Indianapolis International Airport Considers Smoking Ban
WISH – Indianapolis,IN,USA
By Jennifer McGilvray. The Indianapolis International Airport is exploring the idea of snuffing out smoking on the grounds completely. …
WISH – Indianapolis,IN,USA
By Jennifer McGilvray. The Indianapolis International Airport is exploring the idea of snuffing out smoking on the grounds completely. …
Indianapolis airport moves toward full smoking ban
nwitimes.com – Munster,IN,USA
INDIANAPOLIS – The board overseeing Indianapolis International Airport backed a plan on Friday to close a public smoking room this summer and prohibit …
