» Airport gets $1.3M stimulus

Monday, June 01, 2009 | No comments posted. The Southwest Oregon Regional Airport has received money from the federal government to assist in the continued work on one of its runways.

The airport will receive $1.3 million in stimulus dollars to provide additional funding for the relocation of Taxiway C. The $10 million project is in its third year of construction and the $1.3 million rounds out the funding needed to complete the project.

According to airport Executive Director Gary LeTellier, the old taxiway didn’t meet Federal Aviation Administration design standards for larger aircraft, such as Boeing 757s. The district hopes the airport will provide scheduled commercial service on larger aircraft sometime in the future.

At an airport board meeting last week, commissioners also accepted $324,621 in Federal Aviation Airport Improvement Fund money, LeTellier said.

Commissioners also heard an update at the meeting on the April SkyWest Airlines performance, showing there were 31 percent fewer tickets sold than a year ago. However, the number of passengers is increasing with the summer months coming. The flights between North Bend and Portland were 52 percent filled, while the San Francisco aircraft were 70 percent filled. Aircraft operations in general were 6 percent lower than in April 2008.

In other business, LeTellier said the airport will no longer employ public relations specialist Matt Jarvis effective May 31. The district has opted to seek proposals from a variety of public relations firms and individuals for part-time help. “There were some issues that we all weren’t quite comfortable with, that are no reflection on Matt’s abilities,” LeTellier said.

LeTellier has plans to retire in December and the board has scheduled a meeting for 7 p.m. June 2 to discuss and take public input on what the requirements should be for a new executive director.

—  Airport gets $1.3M stimulus