For the week of  Sept. 26 - Oct. 2, 2001

Airport hit by huge security costs

More flight restrictions lifted

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The unbudgeted cost of increased security is "the part of this emergency that hasn’t been worked out yet."

- Rick Baird, Hailey airport manager

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By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer

Hailey’s Friedman Memorial Airport is staggering under the cost of new security requirements the FAA imposed following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast.

The added security, provided by off-duty police officers, is projected to cost the airport $438,000 a year. That amount is more than half of the $850,000 airport management budgeted for all of its expenditures in 2002.

Paying for the gigantic financial hit won’t be easy.

"That’s the part of this emergency that hasn’t been worked out yet," airport manager Rick Baird said Monday.

One solution to the airport’s budget dilemma Baird hopes the FAA will approve involves replacing the new security guards with a cement barrier in the terminal parking lot.

The barrier would be designed to protect the terminal from a potential bomb blast, and would make the need for guards less necessary.

The $30,000 project would allow the terminal parking lot to be reopened, Baird said, which in turn would generate revenue. The barrier could be paid for by shifting existing funds from other budget items, such as the snow-removal fund. And, the barrier could save the airport up to $1,200 a day in security guard costs.

However, Baird said he was "very frustrated," Tuesday morning because the FAA had not granted permission to install the barrier.

Meanwhile, he said he’s worried about escalating costs, about losing the confidence of the traveling public, and about lost revenue.

"I heard the president say we need to start flying," he said. But even though nearly all flight restrictions are lifted, "people just aren’t flying."

Baird estimated that the first month after the attacks will be the worst financially, with the airport losing $100,000 due in large part to the shutdown.

Considering how large the new costs are, he’s reluctant to try to pass them on to passengers because that may further discourage air travel.

He said no federal aid has been made available for the many airports like Hailey’s with parking lots that are no longer useable because they are within 300 feet of a terminal.

Baird said he believes the FAA is working on a set of general guidelines to relieve airports across the country of the kind of burden that Friedman is experiencing.

He said he doesn’t know when to expect a decision, "but every day no decision is made makes it more difficult."

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Separately, the FAA lifted a ban on crop duster flights Tuesday at 12:05 a.m. The FAA banned the flights Monday, following reports that suspected terrorists had inquired about crop duster specifications.

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The FAA lifted its ban on general aviation using visual flight rules on Sept. 21. Flight instructors, pilots giving scenic tours and others had been grounded by the ban since Sept. 11.

Chuck Matthiesen, a Ketchum member of the national Airport Operators and Pilot’s Association, said Blaine County pilots were not overly bothered by the grounding.

"Other than it was an inconvenience, I don’t think it’s been a real problem," he said.

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