Richard Golinowski (left), acting vice president of operations
support, and Paul Malandrino, vice president and airport manager,
coordinate efforts across departments to ensure the success of
Project Journey at Reagan National Airport.
BY KRISTIN NEVELS CLARKSON
Demolish buildings: Check. Investigate utilities: Check. Lay foundation:
Check. Assemble steel: Check.
Project Journey, the capital improvement effort to build a 14-gate
concourse and two security checkpoint buildings at Reagan National
Airport is steadily progressing, thanks in large part to substantial cross-
departmental coordination and planning. Much of it unfolds behind the
scenes, away from the daily hustle and bustle.
Richard Golinowski and Paul Malandrino are leaders of an airport-
focused team, who, about three years ago, took a field trip to New
York’s LaGuardia Airport to observe what could go right or wrong for
passengers during a transformative construction project. Upon returning,
their notebooks were full of ideas as the process for improving the layout
of Reagan National kicked off.
Golinowski and Malandrino put teams together from different
departments at the airport including airlines, engineering, legal,
operations, and revenue to discuss the project at length before meeting
with designers to put pen to paper on how construction should move
forward. Each entity needed to understand the process, duration, and
impact on day-to-day business.
“Everybody has their own interests in a new project, and everybody
wants to make sure their ideas and concepts and needs are attended
to,” said Golinowski. “It’s really important to remember that every single
person on this airport is impacted by the construction.”
FLYWASHINGTON.COM 22 AUTUMN 2019
The teams log many hours in weekly planning meetings to preview
upcoming work because they understand improper planning could have
a negative impact on the whole operation of the airport. They pore over
decisions like when particular construction tasks should be performed to
minimize the impact on customers.
“In the airport business we must be ready to handle any challenge — not
tomorrow, not next week, but today,” Malandrino said. “We’re always
thinking ahead on what we need to do to keep this airport functioning.”
Reagan National’s facilities were previously designed to serve far
fewer customers than they do today, leading to crowding at security
checkpoints and in gate areas. But when Project Journey is complete,
customers will have a more pleasant travel experience.
“That to me is going to greatly improve customer service. So all the pain
we’re going through now is really going to pay dividends when we’re
finished,” said Malandrino.
“We’re setting ourselves up for great things once we open up these two
new facilities,” Golinowski added. “They will really bring a breath of fresh
air to Reagan National Airport.”
To learn more about the construction, visit
FlyReagan.com/ProjectJourney.