Worth the flight

HAYDEN — A community today without an active and thriving airport is a lot like one at the beginning of the 20th century without a train station.

John Adams is fond of saying that. He has been one of Kootenai County’s advisory board members for Coeur d’Alene Airport-Pappy Boyington Field since 1992.

“It just makes sense,” said Adams, who also happens to be president of Coeur d’Alene Tractor Co. “You’ve got to have that transportation element.”

The Coeur d’Alene Airport, which provides infrastructure and services needed for corporate and business activity, is owned and operated by Kootenai County.

“We’ve got one of the top facilities for corporate aircraft, I think, in the world,” said Jim Thorpe, who is president of the Coeur d’Alene electrical construction business Thorco Inc.

Thorpe has been one of the county’s appointed airport advisory board members for 30 years. He said many companies use private jets, and many of the larger companies have their own.

“They analyze what the facilities look like at places they’re looking at relocating to,” Thorpe said. “That becomes a significant determining factor on whether businesses relocate to your area or not.”

The Idaho Transportation Department’s division of aeronautics estimated, in 2008, that Coeur d’Alene Airport generates more than $130 million in economic activity annually.

Adams said the state generated that number on its own, independent of the county.

“These are not figures we’re pulling out of the sky,” Adams said.

A significant reason why it’s $130 million is because Empire Airlines located its operations to the airport in 2004, Adams said.

Unitech Composites and Structures, which now uses the name of its parent company, AGC AeroComposites, is also located at the airport. The company builds composite components for Black Hawk helicopters, and would like to double its facility size and employment.

Other businesses there include Transtector Systems Inc., a maker of surge protection devices, and Aerostar Aircraft Corp., which services a fleet of about 350 aircraft.

“They’re all pretty much aviation related,” Adams said. Transtector would be the exception.

Other businesses in Kootenai County have major customers — both nationally and internationally — traveling in and out of the airport. Ground Force Worldwide, in Post Falls, is one of them.

Rental car agencies and hotels benefit from the corporate visitors to the area. Businesses that fuel the jets and provide catering also get in on the action.

Greg Delavan, the airport’s manager, said since the last study by the state, the airport’s economic activity has grown from approximately $130 million annually to more than $150 million.

“Those jobs at Empire, Unitech, (and) Transtector are a big part of that,” said Delavan, who has been in that job 20 years. He was fired late last fall, then reinstated last week.

Delavan manages all facets of daily operations, and also promotes the facility to recruit new businesses. He is tasked with bringing forward a plan that drives development both in the near and long term.

Those are good paying jobs, Delavan said, and the money filters into the local economy.

Empire has 123 employees at the airport, and 15 contract mechanics.

“Those people hardly ever leave the company,” Delavan said. “A lot of people there have been there 20 years plus.”

Empire is a FedEx “feeder,” operating throughout the western U.S., Canada and Alaska, flying planes into smaller hubs to transport packages to larger hubs, Delavan said.

“The nature of our business requires a physical presence at an airport that can provide all access to large aircraft and is equipped for all-weather operations,” said Tim Komberec, president and CEO of Empire Airlines. “We also want an airport that is well managed and responsive to the needs of aviation and has the room for future expansion if needed.”

Delavan said local businesses and restaurants additionally benefit from spending by those traveling to the area by corporate jet.

“They’ve got a lot of disposable income,” he said.

The area’s businesses benefit from “fly-ins” hosted by the airport. For example, if 100 Cessna owners fly into the area for an extended weekend — many of whom would likely be business owners — that gives the area significant and invaluable exposure.

Steve Wilson, president and CEO of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, said the economic contribution from the airport is evident throughout the tourism industry.

The airport also contributes to the high-end real-estate market, the commercial freight industry, flight services industry, and the manufacturing and aerospace industry, Wilson said. Companies like Empire are crucial to the economy, he said.

“Land availability and the developed infrastructure at the airport are also important in possible future industrial, manufacturing, commercial development and job-generation opportunities,” Wilson said.

He and others at the chamber said an intermodal hub at or near the airport should be explored.

Jim Hammond, Coeur d’Alene city administrator and former state senator, sees the airport stimulating the economy through jobs.

“The airport can be a strong draw for those businesses, both big and small, considering relocation to the Coeur d’Alene area that need convenient access to air travel,” Hammond said.

For those businesses already here, he said, the facilities are essential components to operating in the county.

And although the airport doesn’t have scheduled commercial passenger service, the airport supports tourism, he said.

“The ability for private entities to charter flights directly into the Coeur d’Alene area appeals to distant groups planning major events,” Hammond said.

“I don’t believe that people would be in Gozzer (development) if it wasn’t for the airport,” said County Commissioner Marc Eberlein. “Now I’m a country boy, and I’d just as soon be a hermit, but we don’t live in Hermitville. We live in Coeur d’Alene. It’s a very beautiful place and a lot of people want to come here.”

The airport, located on 1,150 acres of unincorporated land in Kootenai County, is bordered almost entirely by the city of Hayden.

It has two runways, each with parallel taxiways.

One runway is 7,400 feet long and 100 feet wide and is paved with grooved asphalt. A second runway is 5,400 feet long and 75 feet wide.

The airport has two full-service fixed-base operators, or FBOs — Southfield Fuel and Resort Aviation, which offer maintenance and fuel.

“As in any region, a good multi-modal transportation system is one of the cornerstones to sustainable economic growth and development,” said Glenn Miles, executive director of Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization.

For North Idaho and especially the county, the presence of Interstate 90 and U.S. 95, access to BNSF Railway and Union Pacific rail service, and an emerging aviation and aerospace industry focused on, and around, the airport provide particular economic opportunities for the region, Miles said.

“The Coeur d’Alene Airport plays an important role in our regional transportation system by providing timely access and mobility for both people and goods in a manner that in some cases cannot be provided by any other means of transportation,” Miles said.

Stefan Chatwin, Hayden’s city administrator, said the airport is vital to that city.

He said successful businesses such as Empire Airlines, Titan Spring, AGC AeroComposites and others are a testament to what can happen when the county, Hayden, KMPO, transportation districts, utility companies and others work with Jobs Plus and the private sector to ensure that the community’s best interests are met.

“Our best chance for success ... will continue to happen when all of these interested parties come together and properly weigh impacts, opportunity costs associated with certain strategic objectives, and alternative options,” Chatwin said.

Hayden City Council President Roger Saterfiel said the city would like to see Warren K Industrial Park and other land on the north side of town continue to grow. The park is on the northeast side of the airport, and some 600 people work there, earning good wages, he said.

“What’s really important to me is keeping our kids at home” in North Idaho, he said. They need jobs to stay in the community, he said.

The county and the city must work together so they can both grow, without negatively affecting each other, he said. The two sides are talking about ways to make sure that happens.

“As long as we’re talking, it will get worked out,” Saterfiel said.

Benefits from the airport extend beyond Hayden, Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Kootenai County, said County Commissioner Dan Green.

“Our airport impacts our surrounding counties, too,” Green said.

Airport operations run approximately $800,000 annually. The airport brings in more than half that amount from property leases, user fees and fuel taxes, Delavan said. But the airport isn’t self-sufficient, so county property taxpayers pick up the tab on the difference.

Green said the airport currently receives up to $400,000 via property taxes, though Delavan said it’s more like $300,000.

“I believe that it is currently a very good return on investment, but through future development of the available land the burden on the county’s taxpayers would be reduced and eventually eliminated due to increased revenues paid by the airport users,” Green said.

Companies like Empire have plenty of room for any future expansion, he pointed out.

The county has hundreds of acres at the airport that could be developed for other aviation-related businesses.

North Idaho College’s aerospace division is located adjacent to the airport. The school’s division offers courses in aerospace advanced manufacturing and aviation maintenance technology.

“The workforce and developable land go hand in hand,” Green said. “All of this brings solid, family-supporting jobs to our region and the macro-economic effect is potentially huge.”