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Steamboat Springs — Phase 2 construction at Yampa Valley Regional Airport is about six weeks behind schedule and will not be completed by the time winter air service begins Dec. 15.

Still, airport officials are optimistic key areas will be completed in time, including screening and passenger waiting areas.

"I think we're expecting it to be completed for most of the season," airport manager Dave Ruppel said after a Yampa Valley Airport Commission meeting Thursday night. "I still think it will be better than we had last year."

He said construction costs are within budget.

The goal of the terminal expansion is to double the size of the existing terminal in time for the ski season jet flights. There is a 12 percent increase this year in the number of seats available on YVRA flights.

When complete, the additional 23,500 square feet will be used to create significantly larger passenger areas, new ticket counters and a snack bar seating area on the same level as passenger waiting areas at the county-owned airport.

The busiest periods at the airport are expected to be the end of December and early January, but construction is not expected to be finished until the end of January.

Ruppel said the biggest del-ays were caused by problems with the soil under the addition.

"It's always hard, with any building, getting it out of the ground," Ruppel said. "There was a lot of stuff in the ground that no one knew was there."

The airport commission, which serves as an advisory board for YVRA and Steamboat Springs Airport, will meet with people in the hospitality industry Dec. 14 to go over any last-minute plans or details for how to make the airport experience during construction less disruptive for ski season travelers.

"I'm hopeful, by that time, we will have a better idea of what we need to do," said Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association Executive Vice President Sandy Evans Hall. "The role of that meeting is going to help us decide where we need to step in."

Stepping in might mean such things as passing out candy in hard hats to kids or other construction-related themes to help lighten the mood.

"We can still make it fun," Evans Hall said. "We want to make sure the guests have a great experience and leave with that in their mind."

"We're confident that we will be able to provide a great customer experience," said Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. President Chris Diamond.

Diamond sits on the Yampa Valley Airport Commission.

Tile is being laid on the airport expansion floors, and walls are being painted. An aircraft parking area that can handle the loads of Boeing-757 planes has been completed. And on Monday, YVRA will receive $350,000 baggage screening machines, which the Transportation Security Administration is paying for. The machines will allow TSA to screen 150 to 200 bags per hour compared to the 30 to 40 per hour using the manual methods currently employed.

- To reach Matt Stensland, call 871-4210 or e-mail mstensland@steamboatpilot.com