I was reading the IND board documents from the August 2017 meeting and it seems that something big is about to happen at IND in regards to FedEx. The board memo background section states:

"FedEx has committed to expansion at the Indianapolis International Airport that will have major economic impacts on the community. Their expansion will necessitate the relocation of Seerely Creek Basin as well as addition of a new western basin. These enabling projects must be completed prior to FedEx initiating their expansion."

More from the board memo:

"The full scope of work includes scoping, preliminary design and design support services, engineering, bidding, permitting assistance, construction administration and construction support activities. This initial authorization will focus on scoping, preliminary design, design support and permitting services."

$2 million is being spent on this prep work and the Seerely Creek Basin is on the south side of I-70 where the 3rd parallel runway would go. It seems this may be the first step in prepping for construction of the new runway and further FedEx expansion. Does anyone have any information on this? Any idea what the size of the FedEx expansion will be?

You can find the August board papers here: https://d1j6zi7czwjuok.cloudfront.net/i ... ebsite.pdf

According to people, I have talked to at FedEx they are expecting a lot of growth at IND. IND has for long since been more of a "domestic" hub for FedEx so hopefully with another runway FedEx will send more Int'l Cargo through IND.

According to the engineering company's website, this is their part in the project:

"Wessler provided Watershed Modeling Services in conjunction with the expansion of the cargo apron for the FedEx Facilities at the Indianapolis International Airport. The Seerley Creek Drainage Basin was modeled to determine the impact of development on the existing stormwater detention basin."

Another runway just for FedEx? That is a big capital expenditure building an extra runway just for them. IND has two parallel and a crosswind runway at IND just like SDF for UPS however SDF has many more parking positions. Perhaps fedex feels they need three parallel runways like they have at MEM and DHL/Amazon have in CVG.

Are they going to have to move I70 for the second time?

Newbiepilot wrote:

Another runway just for FedEx? That is a big capital expenditure building an extra runway just for them. IND has two parallel and a crosswind runway at IND just like SDF for UPS however SDF has many more parking positions. Perhaps fedex feels they need three parallel runways like they have at MEM and DHL/Amazon have in CVG.

Are they going to have to move I70 for the second time?

The 3rd runway has been proposed for a long time and the reason I-70 was relocated during the midfield terminal construction project. The only question that remained was when this was going to get built.

Here is the capacity enhancement plan that was drafted a long time ago. Shows, in theory, where runways could be added. I doubt 5C/23C or 14E/32E will ever happen but the one that will likely be built is 5S/23S.

https://www.indairport.org/downloads/capacity/IND.pdf

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This looks like work to modify /expand/relocate the storm water collection system to enable FedEx expansion. Especially if they are going to be significantly expanding the amount of paved/built surfaces around airport property.

Nowhere does this even sound remotely like a new runway project.

PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This looks like work to modify /expand/relocate the storm water collection system to enable FedEx expansion. Especially if they are going to be significantly expanding the amount of paved/built surfaces around airport property.

Nowhere does this even sound remotely like a new runway project.

The creek this references is on the south side of the interstate. And that is where the runway is expected to go.

Newbiepilot wrote:

Another runway just for FedEx? That is a big capital expenditure building an extra runway just for them. IND has two parallel and a crosswind runway at IND just like SDF for UPS however SDF has many more parking positions. Perhaps fedex feels they need three parallel runways like they have at MEM and DHL/Amazon have in CVG.

Are they going to have to move I70 for the second time?

The master plan (from 2008) says that they would build taxiway bridges over I-70. So, this has been in the works for awhile.

Indy wrote:

I was reading the IND board documents from the August 2017 meeting and it seems that something big is about to happen at IND in regards to FedEx. The board memo background section states:

"FedEx has committed to expansion at the Indianapolis International Airport that will have major economic impacts on the community. Their expansion will necessitate the relocation of Seerely Creek Basin as well as addition of a new western basin. These enabling projects must be completed prior to FedEx initiating their expansion."

Interesting and intriguing find. Perusing the board documents, it appears that FedEx intends a major project on airport property south of I-70. FedEx already has two facilities in this area, so it might be simply an expansion of one of those or a new, larger facility. There is no mention whatsoever regarding a runway, so that's probably not going to be looked at in the planning and design study.


Locations of the FedEx installations south of I-70. The first is clearly labeled; the second, a FedEx SmartPost facility, is the large white structure at bottom left near Ameriplex Pkwy. Image courtesy of Google Maps.

Anyone have the link or document to the board meetings comments about FedEx?

zackary747 wrote:

Anyone have the link or document to the board meetings comments about FedEx?

It is at the bottom of the first post.

So IND is having or had a meeting to discuss construction projects. "Dirt" got pointed out on the IND Facebook group and an image from Google Earth was shared. This is a very recent image. I'm including the image so others can see it. Looks to me like there may be construction started on something to go over I-70. Question is whether the construction is for a new taxiway over I-70 or something else. Look at the image and see what you think.

Indy wrote:

So IND is having or had a meeting to discuss construction projects. "Dirt" got pointed out on the IND Facebook group and an image from Google Earth was shared. This is a very recent image. I'm including the image so others can see it. Looks to me like there may be construction started on something to go over I-70. Question is whether the construction is for a new taxiway over I-70 or something else. Look at the image and see what you think.

Here's the Twitter post in regard to the meeting, for peoples reference.

https://twitter.com/ExecDirIND/status/9 ... 9652144136

It’s just a road Not a taxi way ...looks like more ramp parking so needs fire truck access .. so will be a special road for fire trucks to respond to the FedEx ramp

COSPN wrote:

It’s just a road Not a taxi way ...looks like more ramp parking so needs fire truck access .. so will be a special road for fire trucks to respond to the FedEx ramp

Doesn’t it look a bit wide and big to be a road?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking at where this is being constructed, it is probably not a taxiway. It doesn't cross I-70 at the low point which means this bridge cannot go straight across. Not sure a raised taxiway bridge will be built here. But this is clearly FedEx related and likely the beginning to the whole runway project on the other side of the interstate. The only question is if this is the first part of the runway project. Wouldn't a bridge across I-70 there be needed for construction equipment?

Indy wrote:

Looking at where this is being constructed, it is probably not a taxiway. It doesn't cross I-70 at the low point which means this bridge cannot go straight across. Not sure a raised taxiway bridge will be built here. But this is clearly FedEx related and likely the beginning to the whole runway project on the other side of the interstate. The only question is if this is the first part of the runway project. Wouldn't a bridge across I-70 there be needed for construction equipment?

I showed the photo to my dad, which works in construction. He said it could possibly be the start of a taxiway bridge. Time will tell.

The construction of nearly anything at a public facility, such as an airport, is easily researched just simply by looking at project plans, meeting minutes, and other official documents. This is especially true for airports which use federal dollars for construction. Capital Projects are defined long in advance and are never done without RFPs/RFIs; Bids; etc. There is no reason to guess, turn things into some sort of conspiracy project, or super secret mystery. If the Director of the Airport or the official account tweets that it is an access road, then it is an access road.

brooklynchris13 wrote:

The construction of nearly anything at a public facility, such as an airport, is easily researched just simply by looking at project plans, meeting minutes, and other official documents. This is especially true for airports which use federal dollars for construction. Capital Projects are defined long in advance and are never done without RFPs/RFIs; Bids; etc. There is no reason to guess, turn things into some sort of conspiracy project, or super secret mystery. If the Director of the Airport or the official account tweets that it is an access road, then it is an access road.

I don't think anyone is trying to make a conspiracy here. As far as I know, nothing has been announced or posted. I'm sure it's posted somewhere, but nobody around here has found it yet. (At least to my knowledge.)

Indy wrote:

brooklynchris13 wrote:

The construction of nearly anything at a public facility, such as an airport, is easily researched just simply by looking at project plans, meeting minutes, and other official documents. This is especially true for airports which use federal dollars for construction. Capital Projects are defined long in advance and are never done without RFPs/RFIs; Bids; etc. There is no reason to guess, turn things into some sort of conspiracy project, or super secret mystery. If the Director of the Airport or the official account tweets that it is an access road, then it is an access road.

He didn't say anything about it being an access road. In fact very little has been said about what is going on with the FedEx expansion except that it is happening. Haven't seen any public disclosure of the scope of the expansion that is being worked on. The airport board documents are often updated late. Construction can be well under way before board minutes reflect changes.I check the papers for every meeting and whatever is going on hasn't been discussed.

I also went to the IAA planet bids page (Bid vendor), and found absolutely nothing on this.

brooklynchris13 wrote:

The construction of nearly anything at a public facility, such as an airport, is easily researched just simply by looking at project plans, meeting minutes, and other official documents. This is especially true for airports which use federal dollars for construction. Capital Projects are defined long in advance and are never done without RFPs/RFIs; Bids; etc. There is no reason to guess, turn things into some sort of conspiracy project, or super secret mystery. If the Director of the Airport or the official account tweets that it is an access road, then it is an access road.

He didn't say anything about it being an access road. In fact very little has been said about what is going on with the FedEx expansion except that it is happening. Haven't seen any public disclosure of the scope of the expansion that is being worked on. The airport board documents are often updated late. Construction can be well under way before board minutes reflect changes.I check the papers for every meeting and whatever is going on hasn't been discussed.

Like said above, there would be ample public documentation, plans, environmental impact statements, and coordination with other governmental agencies if there was anything even remotely as some of you are thinking like bridges for anything over I-70, taxiways, runways, etc. This stuff is all public information and long lead-time capital improvements.

Its probably a lot more mundane than most of you are visioning.

PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:

Like said above, there would be ample public documentation, plans, environmental impact statements, and coordination with other governmental agencies if there was anything even remotely as some of you are thinking like bridges for anything over I-70, taxiways, runways, etc. This stuff is all public information and long lead-time capital improvements.

Its probably a lot more mundane than most of you are visioning.

This runway was planned a long time ago. Who is to say these studies weren't conducted many years ago? The runway on the other side of I-70 was part of the capacity enhancement plan released over a decade ago. You saw the photo posted above with the work being done. Clearly something is going over the interstate so I think we can move beyond the debate of "if" something is being built over I-70 and talk about "what" is being built over I-70. It isn't speculation. It is pretty clear in the photo that construction is going on.

All of the budgeted capital improvement projects are listed in line-item detail in the budget:
https://d1j6zi7czwjuok.cloudfront.net/i ... -18-17.pdf

Stuff like new taxiways and new runways is not done under secrecy.
Despite land acquisition and inclusion in the airport master plan, there is no way they've done the necessary environmental impact, noise studies, construction plans, let alone bids since that stuff all has a finite timeframe of relevance and validity. It also costs a lot of money to even just navigate the planning phase and involves a lot of outside entities.

PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:

All of the budgeted capital improvement projects are listed in line-item detail in the budget:
https://d1j6zi7czwjuok.cloudfront.net/i ... -18-17.pdf

Stuff like new taxiways and new runways is not done under secrecy.
Despite land acquisition and inclusion in the airport master plan, there is no way they've done the necessary environmental impact, noise studies, construction plans, let alone bids since that stuff all has a finite timeframe of relevance and validity. It also costs a lot of money to even just navigate the planning phase and involves a lot of outside entities.

You have made many assumptions. #1 being that IND is the one paying for the FedEx runway. Another is the assumption being that this is being done in secret. The 3rd runway is no secret. The 3rd runway was supposed to be built a long time ago. It was actually planned but postponed due to the great recession and 9/11. Who knows what kind of studies were done back then. Do we know if any of this research has to be redone because of the amount of time that has passed? No clue. Doubt anyone here knows the regulations on that. Big blind spot there. We have no idea how much work was done ages ago. I-70 was realigned and lowered specifically for the new runway. So expense has already gone into the project. And I am fairly certain there were environmental impact studies were done for that.

Because of the placement of whatever is being constructed, I don't think it is a taxiway bridge. The bridge is supposed to be further down I-70. Do you see this construction project in the budget list? It is clearly going to be a bridge. A bridge to what? The plan for the other side of the interstate is to build the runway. You cannot look at the photo and deny construction is taking place. It is very evident. There is also money being spent to relocate a creek basin that happens to be in the area where the runway is going to be built. That information was listed in IAA board documents not long ago.

So look at that picture and tell me what is going on. What are they building and what is it going to. Keep in mind the wide open area on the other side of I-70 has to support a runway and taxiway. Subtract that space and what are you left to work with?

Another thought. Would a significant amount of money have been spent to relocate and lower the interstate if the runway hadn't already received the green light? That relocation was a significant cost. I doubt over a hundred million dollars in federal funds gets spent on a project to relocate a road just in case one day IND wanted to build a 3rd runway.

I'm making assumptions with my knowledge about how airport capital improvement projects are planned, funded, and executed. They are not done without ample public information.
I'm also going with how bureaucratic the process is to build new runways and that simply because they have acquired land and have it in a master plan does not mean they can just go and build something without going through a huge up-front planning process. The engineering and construction management of such a project costs ten of millions of dollars. Most major airports that are not land-locked or constrained may have additional runways in their master plans. The master plan is a land acquisition and future land-use guide.

I'm just trying to temper the notion that "IND is building the third runway". There is no evidence they are proceeding at this time.

There are two projects of interested noted in the original thread:
1) They are hiring an engineering firm and going to be paying them $2M for services over a multi-year period related to a "major" FedEx expansion at IND, which appears to have a target completion date of 2019-2020. That is really far too aggressive to be a new runway.

2) IND is going through a major utility replacement / relocation / enhancement project around the airfield. Some of this is mundane stuff like electric / fiber optic, communications stuff, but it could be semi-related to any major changes / relocation of infrastructure elements

Also, there is a whole lot of mundane, typical infrastructure repair/replacement/enhancements in the capital projects section of the FY18 budget.

A new runway, typically takes 10 years to open from the time the planning phase really gets going.

The FedEx expansion does sound interesting, the question is how much of its their infrastructure needs on land-side and what is the air-side impact/requirement.

Regarding the dirt in the photo above, it could be an access-road connector, it could be a temporary construction road, it could be utility-related. Again, highly unlikely its a bridge at this point with no other public record / documentation to support that notion.

Runway planning started over a decade ago. Construction doesn't take as long as you might think. Thanks to Google imagery, you can determine the length of time it took to build 5L/23R. According to the IND Capacity Plan, it was to be constructed in late 1995. The 2nd runway was originally slated as not being needed prior to 2000 but was changed and the plan reflected the runway would need to be in place by 1996. In the March 1993 Google image, there is no evidence of any kind of runway construction. Less than 3 years later, the brand new 5L/23R was in operation. Runways don't take that long to build when you already have the land and there is nothing in the way that needs to be relocated.

As far as this construction not being a bridge because of the public record/documentation... have you looked at the documents related to the I-70 relocation project? A bridge in this location may have been covered in that documentation. I wonder how much of this expansion project may have been covered in the I-70 project. Environmental studies may have been covered. I don't recall the last noise study conducted by IND, but I know they've done it in the past. Not sure if an additional one would be needed.

We know FedEx is expanding at IND and they have big plans for here. How long do you think IND and FedEx wait before pulling the trigger on the 3rd runway. If FedEx is aggressively expanding, they aren't going to wait a decade for a new runway. The ball on this likely got rolling a long time ago. It just got held up during the great recession. Have they started the ball rolling again? If FedEx is paying for construction, we likely won't know about plans as quickly as we would if IND were paying for it.

I wish someone had some inside information they could share on this construction. Download Google Earth Pro and use the timeline slider and see what is changing there.

Indy wrote:

You saw the photo posted above with the work being done. Clearly something is going over the interstate so I think we can move beyond the debate of "if" something is being built over I-70 and talk about "what" is being built over I-70. It isn't speculation. It is pretty clear in the photo that construction is going on.

What photo are you looking at? The one posted above shows nothing going over I-70.

Looks like a simple short connector road to connect S. Perimeter Road with FedEx, along with any associated grading, drainage, sewage, etc.

Is this the big FedEx expansion? http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/st ... irport-hub

Excepted between 2017-2020. They were requesting tax abatement for their $170 M expansion.

Nowhere does this mean new runway. Plus a new runway is going to cost somewhere between $700M - $1B.

flyPIT wrote:

Indy wrote:

You saw the photo posted above with the work being done. Clearly something is going over the interstate so I think we can move beyond the debate of "if" something is being built over I-70 and talk about "what" is being built over I-70. It isn't speculation. It is pretty clear in the photo that construction is going on.

What photo are you looking at? The one posted above shows nothing going over I-70.

Looks like a simple short connector road to connect S. Perimeter Road with FedEx, along with any associated grading, drainage, sewage, etc.

Nothing is going over I-70 yet. It looks like they might be building something to go over the interstate. It could be something that runs down the slope of the grade but hard to really tell in a 2D view. They relocated perimeter fencing and have it along the FedEx ramp instead of along the road. It runs approximately 560 feet along the very edge of the ramp. The distance from the current fence line to the old fence line is 150 feet at one side and 200 feet at the other. This is quite a large area that they've opened for work. They have also ripped up about 360 feet of road.

That likely means they are putting in some either temporary and/or new roadway to potentially support the construction project and work for the FedEx expansion.

When doing major projects like that its typical to move airport perimeter fencing move the AOA/ security perimeter so they don't have to have all the construction works and equipment going through the AOA or badging, etc.

This likely is all site preparation work for an expansion on the southwest side of the FedEx sort building. I would guess they probably had that area ear-marked for future expansion in mind between the ramp and I-70.

I think I have the answer to what's going on near S. Perimeter Road. It's a temporary concrete batch plant. Here's a recent image from Google Maps:



To get this image via Google Maps, access Satellite View, then click off 3D in the Menu. When done successfully it should show as "3D off."

With 3D off, expand the image and take a gander at the south taxiway adjacent to runway 5L/23R. A substantial section of this taxiway appears to have been recently reconstructed or resurfaced, as it is more white-ish than either the runway or other taxiways. Also, if you check out the southwest end, you'll see some equipment, trucks, etc. The contractor in charge of the taxiway project apparently has built a concrete batch plant on airport grounds to facilitate the reconstruction or resurfacing task.

ITB wrote:

I think I have the answer to what's going on near S. Perimeter Road. It's a temporary concrete batch plant. Here's a recent image from Google Maps:



To get this image via Google Maps, access Satellite View, then click off 3D in the Menu. When done successfully it should show as "3D off."

With 3D off, expand the image and take a gander at the south taxiway adjacent to runway 5L/23R. A substantial section of this taxiway appears to have been recently reconstructed or resurfaced, as it is more white-ish than either the runway or other taxiways. Also, if you check out the southwest end, you'll see some equipment, trucks, etc. The contractor in charge of the taxiway project apparently has built a concrete batch plant on airport grounds to facilitate the reconstruction or resurfacing task.

That isn't the spot we are looking at. The image you posted is from an area further west on Perimeter Rd.

Indy wrote:

ITB wrote:

I think I have the answer to what's going on near S. Perimeter Road. It's a temporary concrete batch plant. Here's a recent image from Google Maps:



To get this image via Google Maps, access Satellite View, then click off 3D in the Menu. When done successfully it should show as "3D off."

With 3D off, expand the image and take a gander at the south taxiway adjacent to runway 5L/23R. A substantial section of this taxiway appears to have been recently reconstructed or resurfaced, as it is more white-ish than either the runway or other taxiways. Also, if you check out the southwest end, you'll see some equipment, trucks, etc. The contractor in charge of the taxiway project apparently has built a concrete batch plant on airport grounds to facilitate the reconstruction or resurfacing task.

That isn't the spot we are looking at. The image you posted is from an area further west on Perimeter Rd.

Yup. The image you uploaded previously definitely appears more recent than the one I posted.

On closer inspection of that recent image, it appears to be work to enlarge the Fedex apron. The reason the road is dug up is probably to fix drainage issues associated with the expanded apron. A small excavation is present, which might be for a new culvert. At the same time, it could be site prep for another structure. And, again, that could involve improving drainage in and around the site.

To know definitively what's going on, a phone placed to Fedex-Indy should provide an answer.

I thought FedEx was going to build a new airport according to Indy?

I believe the construction spotted on Google is related to stormwater. If you also look right next to the FedEx building on the south side it looks like they are dropping pipe. The mound of earth is probably where they are channeling water since a creek/swale used to run in almost the same location. Look at 2003 for the gully that was once next to the exit that was there. Across the road is an area that is not farmed. Older photos show standing water and soaked land. The 1992 photos show the drainage patterns for the area very well including how wet the area remains. I am betting that earthwork is possible where they have larger stones buried because they will loose soil and voids for the water to collect and run under the interstate.

The likelihood that this is a runway is extremely slim, I highly doubt that the airport would seriously consider adding another runway. It took until CVG topped 500,000 aircraft movements a year before they went ahead with the 3rd parallel runway. IND and CVG which have about 150,000 movements a year can do just fine on two parallel runways. Airports like CLE/PIT which built 3rd parallel runways have since (or are planning on) removing them and STL/CVG's are rarely used. I totally see a major FX expansion happening, but a new runway is just not needed.

atypical wrote:

I believe the construction spotted on Google is related to stormwater. If you also look right next to the FedEx building on the south side it looks like they are dropping pipe. The mound of earth is probably where they are channeling water since a creek/swale used to run in almost the same location. Look at 2003 for the gully that was once next to the exit that was there. Across the road is an area that is not farmed. Older photos show standing water and soaked land. The 1992 photos show the drainage patterns for the area very well including how wet the area remains. I am betting that earthwork is possible where they have larger stones buried because they will loose soil and voids for the water to collect and run under the interstate.

cvgComair wrote:

The likelihood that this is a runway is extremely slim, I highly doubt that the airport would seriously consider adding another runway. It took until CVG topped 500,000 aircraft movements a year before they went ahead with the 3rd parallel runway. IND and CVG which have about 150,000 movements a year can do just fine on two parallel runways. Airports like CLE/PIT which built 3rd parallel runways have since (or are planning on) removing them and STL/CVG's are rarely used. I totally see a major FX expansion happening, but a new runway is just not needed.

Probably related to this point from the board memo (as Indy pointed out earlier):
https://d1j6zi7czwjuok.cloudfront.net/i ... EBSITE.pdf

"FedEx has committed to expansion at the Indianapolis International Airport that will have major
economic impacts on the community. Their expansion will necessitate the relocation of Seerely
Creek Basin as well as addition of a new western basin. These enabling projects must be
completed prior to FedEx initiating their expansion."

https://d1j6zi7czwjuok.cloudfront.net/i ... EBSITE.pdf

Something is definitely cooking though, whether it is a new runway or not

To your point, I'll argue though that CLE/PIT do not have the Cargo component that IND/CVG have though, and CVG and IND have planned expansions from their current tenants while CLE/PIT don't....

Working at that Fedex facility, we've been told a few things about it. Next to the main building near the contractor entry gate they are leveling the land to build a new sort/outbound facility to increase the amount of flights we can support since the MEM facility is pretty much maxed. Currently, during peak operations at fedex, we bring in more aircraft during nightside operations than we have aircraft gates, where we have to park aircraft in the incoming/outgoing taxi points until we free up a gate or two. So the expansion will include additional aircraft gates, as well as taxiway access for the eventual taxiway bridge for the additional runway that fedex will operate.

Krivak wrote:

Working at that Fedex facility, we've been told a few things about it. Next to the main building near the contractor entry gate they are leveling the land to build a new sort/outbound facility to increase the amount of flights we can support since the MEM facility is pretty much maxed. Currently, during peak operations at fedex, we bring in more aircraft during nightside operations than we have aircraft gates, where we have to park aircraft in the incoming/outgoing taxi points until we free up a gate or two. So the expansion will include additional aircraft gates, as well as taxiway access for the eventual taxiway bridge for the additional runway that fedex will operate.

Thanks for the update. Other than where they are currently going to add aircraft gates, where is there space to add more to accommodate future growth?

Krivak wrote:

Working at that Fedex facility, we've been told a few things about it. Next to the main building near the contractor entry gate they are leveling the land to build a new sort/outbound facility to increase the amount of flights we can support since the MEM facility is pretty much maxed. Currently, during peak operations at fedex, we bring in more aircraft during nightside operations than we have aircraft gates, where we have to park aircraft in the incoming/outgoing taxi points until we free up a gate or two. So the expansion will include additional aircraft gates, as well as taxiway access for the eventual taxiway bridge for the additional runway that fedex will operate.

Interesting. Will the new sort/outbound building be located to the south of the main facility, between S. Perimeter Road and the apron? And, if I may ask, where exactly is the contractor entry gate? I can't seem to find it on Google maps. And where do workers park?

ITB wrote:

Krivak wrote:

Working at that Fedex facility, we've been told a few things about it. Next to the main building near the contractor entry gate they are leveling the land to build a new sort/outbound facility to increase the amount of flights we can support since the MEM facility is pretty much maxed. Currently, during peak operations at fedex, we bring in more aircraft during nightside operations than we have aircraft gates, where we have to park aircraft in the incoming/outgoing taxi points until we free up a gate or two. So the expansion will include additional aircraft gates, as well as taxiway access for the eventual taxiway bridge for the additional runway that fedex will operate.

Interesting. Will the new sort/outbound building be located to the south of the main facility, between S. Perimeter Road and the apron? And, if I may ask, where exactly is the contractor entry gate? I can't seem to find it on Google maps. And where do workers park?

Workers for fedex park on the other side of the interstate. Dedicated Fedex lot and we get bussed in. The "contractors" gate is next to the big building on the west side with access to perimeter road. You can see the lot inside the fence that has all those dollies and containers sitting there, its to the right of that in the sat image.

As for future growth, the entire length of old perimeter is probably going to be the spot for it, though they havent said much. If we use all that and more, they'll just add more gates to the other side and we'll shuttle freight across. That'd be many years in the future though.

https://www.ibj.com/articles/66544-fede ... -tax-break

Idk if you consider this major, but FedEx is planning $385M in upgrades at IND, which will in tern increase the speed of sorting and the volume of packages that will be processed at IND....which would inevitably lead to more flights....

Midwestindy wrote:

https://www.ibj.com/articles/66544-fedex-plans-385m-upgrade-for-indy-hub-seeks-292m-tax-break

Idk if you consider this major, but FedEx is planning $385M in upgrades at IND, which will in tern increase the speed of sorting and the volume of packages that will be processed at IND....which would inevitably lead to more flights....

As far as I'm concerned, I wish they'd reduce MEM and grow IND...the quality of work at the MEM hub is sorely lacking.

Is FX investing any money in MEM at all? It seems the company is spending a significant amount of money on IND and the central Indiana area.

Does anyone have a map showing a rough outline of the property "owned" by the airport? Just curious if say 20-30 years down the road FedEx does have a good deal of expansion, with that and other airport projects, could it start to get boxed in?

I imagine in another 20 years we'll see a massive build up along Ronald Reagan Parkway and Six Points. I imagine AmeriPlex will also build up.

stlgph wrote:

Does anyone have a map showing a rough outline of the property "owned" by the airport? Just curious if say 20-30 years down the road FedEx does have a good deal of expansion, with that and other airport projects, could it start to get boxed in?

I imagine in another 20 years we'll see a massive build up along Ronald Reagan Parkway and Six Points. I imagine AmeriPlex will also build up.

Not sure what the exact borders are, but I know the airport owns 7700 acres of land. That is the size of ORD. They have a huge amount of land on the other side of I-70. So they have that space for growth. There is also the old terminal area. Not sure if that will be used for FX because of the distance.

Indy wrote:

There is also the old terminal area. Not sure if that will be used for FX because of the distance.

? distance doesn't seem to be an issue for FX, they already have two hangars on the completely opposite side of the property...