On the agenda: Salem City Council closer to allowing commercial flights at McNary Field

Salem City Council could move one step closer to bringing commercial flights to McNary Field this summer.

Council is set to vote Monday on whether to authorize the city manager to execute air carrier operating and revenue guarantee agreements with an airline and a local matching funds agreement with Travel Salem.

The name of the air carrier is redacted in city documents as part of a nondisclosure clause, but the agreement specifies the airline serves the Los Angeles basin, San Francisco, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The agreement states the airline would schedule a minimum of two weekly flights.

The Air Carrier Operating Agreement is a 10-year agreement proposing rates and fees that differ from the city’s Master Fee Schedule.

For example, current fee schedules charge a rate of 8 cents per gallon for fuel flowage. The carrier would pay 6 cents per gallon. For the first two years of operation, the carrier would not pay landing fees. The current standard for landing fees is $1 per pound for planes under 1,000 pounds in landing weight.

City staff said in a report that while the proposed rate schedules will reduce potential airport revenues, "the expectation is that air carrier growth will provide additional revenue in other areas, primarily through expanded public parking and increased rental car commissions."

Read more: Could McNary Field Airport in Salem have commercial air service by May 2023?

The Revenue Guarantee Agreement obligates the city to unconditionally guarantee that the airline will receive certain minimum revenue for operating flights from Salem. If they don't, the city will pay the difference each year. In the event that the agreement is canceled, the city would still be on the hook for any money owed to the airline.

"The City will utilize its federal grant funds and local matching funds to support the Airline and ensure that it is at least revenue-neutral for each flight operated to and from Salem up to a total amount of $1.2 million including $50,000 for marketing," staff said in the report.

This agreement states the money would be used over the course of two years after the airline begins service.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Salem a Small Community Air Service Development grant for $850,000. Travel Salem has agreed to provide the required $350,000 in local matching funds through local pledges.

The airport’s share of the grant match is considered an in-kind contribution of two years of waived landing fees, aircraft parking fees and terminal rental fees, which Salem City Council authorized April 25.

The agreements must be executed before Salem can launch commercial service at Salem Airport this summer.

Supporters of the effort to bring commercial flights to Salem tout commercial air service as a key economic boon to local companies, employment, tourism and local wineries. Opponents decry the push for air service as a waste of money and a contributor to carbon emissions.

Salem Mayor Chris Hoy said during his annual State of the City address that he expects commercial flights to be available by July 4.

Related: Salem mayor talks homelessness, housing, crime, downtown in State of the City address

Also on the agenda

Other agenda items include:

• Voting on whether to authorize the city manager to apply for a $7 million Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program grant to purchase 363 acres of land north of Wallace Marine Park.

• Appointments to the Citizen Budget Committee.

• Voting on whether to advance a proposed ordinance to eliminate minimum off-street parking requirements citywide.

• Appointments to the Salem Human Rights Commission.

How to participate

The meeting is at 6 p.m. It will be held in person at the City Council Chambers at the Salem Civic Center at 555 Liberty St. SE and can also be watched on Comcast Cable CCTV Channel 21 or on the Salem YouTube channel in English/American Sign Language and Spanish.

Those wishing to comment in person can sign-up on the rosters at the chamber entrance before the start of the meeting.

Written public comments on agenda items can be emailed by 5 p.m. Monday to cityrecorder@cityofsalem.net. Or preregister between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday at cityofsalem.net/Pages/Public-Comment-at-Salem-City-Council-Meeting.aspx to speak during the meeting via Zoom.

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem closer to allowing commercial flights at McNary Field