New cell-phone lot opens at airport

If you've ever gotten spittin' mad trying to find the remote, hard-to-find cell-phone waiting lot at the airport, relief may at last be at hand.

Mayor Nutter cut the ribbon yesterday on a 150-car lot right in the center of the airport designated for drivers who need a place to wait for arriving passengers.

It's "quick and easy to get to," Nutter said, adding that soon three large digital signs will be installed to give waiting motorists flight-status updates.

"We want to make this as easy and convenient and as logical as possible," Nutter said.

In August, police began ticketing motorists who pulled onto the shoulder of Route 291 or airport access roads to wait for passengers. A waiting lot existed a short distance from the airport, but signs for it were few, small and unlit, so it was little-used.

Nutter promised motorists will have no trouble finding the new lot.

"One of our goals is not only having it, but people knowing where it is," he said. "There will be enhanced and upgraded signage to help with that."

Councilman Frank Rizzo, a persistent advocate for a workable waiting lot, said he'll make sure it's accessible. "This will still be my pet project," Rizzo said yesterday.

Nutter also announced that he's appointed Mark Gale as the city's new aviation director in charge of running the airport.

Gale, a 20-year veteran of the airport, has been acting director since aviation chief Charles Isdell left 11 months ago.

Nutter is giving Gale the new title of chief executive officer and a salary of $200,000. Nutter said that his team found Philadelphia's $166,000 salary wasn't competitive, and that smaller airports like those in Memphis, Baltimore and Cincinnati were paying their aviation chiefs more.

To get to the lot, enter the airport on the arrivals road and follow the signs to the "Cell Phone Waiting Lot." It's near the Terminal A parking garage, about a minute's drive from the baggage claim.