Optimism is riding high around Friedman Memorial Airport's executive offices that the Federal Aviation Administration soon would approve 95 percent funding for the $4.5 million reconstruction of the field's eroding runway.
Friedman manager Rick Baird said the FAA decision could come within 10 days. He said the Idaho congressional delegation has been "asking tough questions" of the FAA, plus the FAA recognizes the runway project is an urgent safety issue and, as Baird describes it, "a high priority" job.
The Hailey airport tentatively has scheduled a 30-day closing from late April to late May for the project. Baird told the Mountain Express he believes funds will be approved in time for work to begin as planned.
Some fears had been expressed because the new Congress had not fully authorized all funding for the year. But Baird said he understood adequate funds were available.
Most of the runway's layers of material are 20 years old. Moisture that seeps into the layers has begun to erode the subsurface as well as spots on the pavement.
Baird has reassured the airport's governing authority that continual monitoring of the pavement's condition has forestalled any risks to aircraft, although some patching has been required.
Friedman has been in a continuous state of improvement work to not only upgrade but to meet FAA safety criteria after the FAA tagged the airport as out of safety compliance for the larger airliners and corporate jets using the field. Some operational restrictions have been imposed, such as no aircraft are allowed to taxi when Horizon Air's Q-400 78-passenger turboprop is landing or taking off because of its larger wingspan.
The search for a new airport site was prompted by the FAA's citation about Friedman's inadequate runway and taxiway separation, among other things.
