By necessity, Friedman Memorial Airport has already begun planning for the 2009 high-impact traffic of the annual Allen & Co. media conference, whose tycoon attendees pack the airport with scores of corporate jets.
Airport manager Rick Baird told the Friedman governing board last week that because the corporate jets are larger, less space is available for parking. He pointed out, for example, that 13 acres is required to park just 17 newer Gulfstream jets, the favored VIP aircraft among media executives attending the Sun Valley conference.
This summer, he said, was among the busiest in the airport's history. He said the airport's capacity is taxed by heavy traffic at least 21 days a year.
"This is an indication of every increasing pressure on the airport's operational capability," Baird said.
Baird said more use of the airport by Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management firefighting aircraft plus medical evacuation aircraft has added to capacity problems.
He said the airport has been advised to expect a significant traffic increase in February during the World Winter Special Olympics, just a week before President's Day holiday traffic.
Movement of aircraft during these heavy-traffic periods is considerably slowed, Baird pointed out, because of the Federal Aviation Administration requirement to clear taxiways when aircraft larger and faster than authorized for Friedman's design are taking off and landing.
He recalled for the board one incident when takeoff and landing delays at Friedman forced a SkyWest Airlines flight that had been circling prior to landing clearance to divert to Twin Falls to refuel.
Baird credited chief tower controller Gorge White and his staff with performing beyond the call of duty with innovative solutions. One such, he said, was finding ways to pack and then move backed-up aircraft to taxiway shoulders and down a little-used taxiway on the airport's east side.
In other airport authority business:
· Unless SkyWest agrees to assume the costs of operating the installed but inoperative Transponder Landing System, the FAA will unplug it on Sept. 30, Baird said. Operating the TLS has been a goal for more than 10 years, but has been hobbled by FAA technical obstacles and indecision on who would pay operating costs.
· Blaine County Commissioner Larry Schoen, attending the meeting as an observer, said FAA designation of possible sites for a new airport could conflict with Blaine County zoning and land use ordinances. Airport attorney Barry Luboviski agreed such might occur, but a process for resolving differences would be established.
· Though most aspects of airport revenue-producing operations (auto parking, car rentals, fuel flowage aircraft tie downs, landing fees, etc.) are showing increases, revenues are down about 1 percent, Baird said, primarily because of reduced general aviation flying, blamed on higher fuel costs.
· Representatives of the FAA and consultant Landrum & Brown will be at the Oct. 7 airport authority meeting to give forecasts of possible traffic at a new airport.
· Horizon Air customer service agents Debbie Bartlett and Debbie Bouiss, with the airline for 18 and 21 years respectively, were named as Airport Employees of the Second Quarter for exceptional performance during demanding weather conditions that led to flight cancellations and rebooking of passengers.
