Document text
Two years later, local airport is doing fine By Tim Bousquet Tidings Correspondent Two years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, most airports in the United States are still struggling; the Ashland Municipal Airport, however, is doing surprisingly well. "September 11th did have an effect, but not much," said Bob Skinner of Skinner Aviation, which leases the airport from the City of Ashland and provides all retail services at the airport - fuel sales, aircraft service, flight school, and the like. "There was a short time when no one could fly, but even then the FAA gave us permission to fly a plane for aerial fire support. We lease two planes to the Oregon Department of Forestry," Skinner explained. "The general economy and the stock market had more of an effect on us than September 11th," he continued, "but we're recovering. Leases and rentals are back up where they were, and so are express flights and flight school. The used aircraft market took a big dive, but even that's coming back." As airports go, Ashland is a small operation. According to the FAA, just 89 aircraft are based at the airport, and on average only 54 "operations" - take-offs or landings - happen each day. The U.S. Business Directory reports that Skinner Aviation employs seven people and has less than a million dollars in annual sales. But while it may be small, the airport has a large effect on Ashland's economy. A 1997 Economic Impact Study prepared by Southern Oregon University for the city estimated that the airport generated about $2.8 million in local economic activity. City officials say they believe that the economic impact of the airport has increased somewhat since 1997, at little or no direct cost to the taxpayers. While the city budgets about a quarter of a million dollars a year into the Airport Fund, all of that comes from airport leases. "We break even year after year at the airport," said Public Works Director Paula Brown. "The airport pays for itself." "The City of Ashland has a wonderful operation out there; it's a great airport," said Bern Case, airport director of the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport. Case said the Medford airport is "in the upper 15 percent of similarly sized airports," thanks mostly to newly added service by America West Airlines. Overall, "airports across the country are still struggling [from the effects of Sept. 11]," said Case. "The first few months after 9/11, it was devastation, but it's beginning to get back to normal. People are starting to fly again." In contrast to Medford, Ashland's airport has no commercial airline operations, relying instead on general aviation and private companies using the landing strip for reasons of convenience. Most of the activity at the airport - 69 percent according to the FAA - comes in the form of "transient aircraft," airplanes based at other airports visiting Ashland. "The summer months are very busy, with up to twenty transient aircraft on the tarmac over the weekends," Skinner said. "These are tourists, people coming up for the Shakespeare festival, or whatever." The economic impact study found that about 40 percent of the tourists coming into the airport were coming for the Shakespeare Festival, a figure similar to studies conducted by the theater itself. Another big user of the airport is the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Forensics Laboratory. Located about a mile from the airport on East Main Street, the lab is the only crime lab in the world dedicated exclusively to wildlife; it is involved in endangered species investigations around the country and its services are used by international police agencies as well. About six times a year, the lab uses the airport to fly-in large carcasses of animals to be studied, said Ed Spinoza, the Deputy Director of the lab. Thousands of smaller pieces of evidence - including blood and tissue samples, bones, hides, stomach contents, and projectiles - are shipped via Federal Express, also through the Ashland Airport. Additionally, lab scientists fly out of the airport about 125 times a year to testify in court cases. The lab's activity varies depending on the volume of investigations, said Spinoza, but generally remains the same on an annual basis. Volume has not significantly changed since the 1997 Economic Impact Study, which noted that the continued operation of the lab is dependent on "the convenience of use provided by the Ashland Municipal Airport." One of the largest operators at the airport, and yet one of the least known, is Sky Research Inc., a firm specializing, according to its Web site, in advanced remote technology for the detection of "unexploded ordnance, toxic wastes and hazardous wastes, depleted uranium, etc." The company has between $2.5 million and $5 million in annual sales and employs 12 people through its East Main Street headquarters, according to the U.S. Business Directory. The company leases a hangar at the airport, and owns three airplanes and a helicopter. "Sky Research relies on government contracts," says Skinner, "and I don't think they've been affected at all by the terrorist attacks." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -