Future is bright for Schlemeyer Airport
May 23—The Ector County Commissioners received a positive report on the future of Schlemeyer Airport from Coffman Associates, an airport consulting firm hired by the Texas Department of Transportation to update the county's master airport layout plan and narrative report.
Mike Dmyterko, president of Coffman Associates, said an ALP and narrative report provides decision makers with a "visionary" document to help them determine how best to develop the airport over the next 20 years keeping in mind changes in the aviation industry and standards set by TxDOT and the Federal Aviation Administration.
"You have a lot of opportunity to develop this airport, absolutely way beyond the demand we're projecting, so this airport is good for potential growth well into the future, way beyond the 20 years," Dmyterko said during his 25-minute presentation.
Currently 80% of the aircraft that use the airport are single-engine planes and 7% are jets, he said. Based on their analysis, Coffman Associates predicts the percentage of single-engine planes will fall to 76% by 2042 and the percentage of jets will increase to 10%.
They also predict multi-engine planes will decrease in number and will only account for roughly 1% of the planes using the airport, but turboprops will increase from 6% to 8%.
Dmyterko recommended a list of short-term, intermediate and long-term projects for the airport. Those projects include extending or expanding taxiways, runways, installing or upgrading visual approach aids, expanding the terminal building and parking lot, building a secondary fuel farm and eventually upgrading two of the runways.
The total cost for the projects over the 20-year period is an estimated $60 million, but the county could receive 90% of that through federal grants, Dmyterko said.
"You have a responsibility federally by having taken federal grants, whether it be from the state through the block grant or directly from the feds, that you are to operate this airport in a safe manner and you should be responding to demand in a way that meets their safety criteria," he said.
Dmyterko said if the demand for the airport increases as predicted, the county needs to "respond in a manner that's reflective of your responsibility as a community to the airport."
The consultant also told the commissioners that while there may be single events that cause the airport to exceed the day-night noise levels set by the FAA, Schlemeyer Field on the whole shouldn't have any issues with those rules.
"There wasn't anything earth shaking with the report, as far as we're not announcing that we're fixin' to add a new runway or expand anything. It's just to start putting together a timeline and prioritization of the maintenance that needs to take place out there and so that we can start budgeting for it and be ready for it," said Commissioner Greg Simmons.
Commissioner Mike Gardner said he was "good" with the recommendations as long as bigger jets won't be brought into the airport.
