Growth-minded Yeager wants to slice hilltop in flight path

DAILY MAIL STAFF

Yeager Airport officials are getting ready for $1.5 million inconstruction work that could someday help them attract service fromanother airline.

Within the next week, they expect to reach agreements on about$300,000 in contracts for engineering services needed for theexpansion of the main terminal building, the removal of a hilltopobstruction that limits some flights and the seal coating of arunway.

They want construction work to begin this summer.

The hilltop that airport officials want to remove is at NorthgateBusiness Park. Airport Director Rick Atkinson said Tuesday thatremoving it would eliminate the weight limitations placed on someplanes that take off in that direction, such as those headed toHouston, especially during bad weather. That, in turn, would enhanceYeager's chances of getting service to more cities, he said.

"If Northwest (Airlines) wanted to expand with service toMinneapolis, they could do that," Atkinson said. "There would not bea runway limitation for them."

It might also help Yeager get service from American Airlines,which is the only so-called "legacy" carrier not already servingCharleston, he said. Atkinson would like to get service betweenCharleston and American's hub at Dallas-Fort Worth.

"Dallas-Fort Worth's stage length is the same as Houston," hesaid. "If we could eliminate runway limitations, it would better ourcase, because they wouldn't have to worry about equipmentlimitations."

Atkinson said the removal of the hilltop obstruction might alsoopen the possibility of getting direct flights between Charleston andOrlando.

"If someone wanted to over fly a hub into Orlando, that's a fairlygood stage length," he said.

The first step in getting that hilltop removed is to conduct anenvironmental study, but Atkinson doesn't see that as a big obstacle.He compared the moving of dirt off that hilltop to the constructionof Corridor G south of Charleston.

Fortunately, Atkinson said, Northgate owner John Wellford welcomesthe fill dirt that the project would provide and might want to lowerthe level of the hill even more than the airport would be able to getthe Federal Aviation Administration to fund.

Airport officials expect the environmental study necessary beforethe hilltop could be lowered would take six months to a year tocomplete.

The expansion of the terminal building with an addition of about100 feet by 40 feet would provide room for more ticketing countersand two more boarding gates, which also would be helpful in theattempts to attract more air service. Yeager already squeezed inadditional ticket counter space last summer, when Independence Airstarted serving Charleston and forced United Express to find newspace.

Airport officials believe the expansion could be finished byNovember or December.

The seal coating of one runway is a minor project but a necessaryone to extend the life of the runway. Tim Murnahan, assistant airportdirector, said it would probably take about six weeks to develop thespecifications for the job but only a couple of weeks for the actualcoating work.

On Tuesday, Yeager's construction committee reviewed the bids ofsix companies interested in one or more of the engineering contracts.Airport officials plan to negotiate contracts, beginning with theirtop choices for each job, within the next week.

The FAA will provide about 95 percent of the funding for theprojects. Under the agency's guidelines, airport officials can't getprice quotes for the work until after they rank their top choices foreach job and begin negotiating with the companies.

L. Robert Kimball & Associates is their top choice for theenvironmental study for the hilltop removal project and for the sealcoating of the runway. Their leading choice for the terminalexpansion project is Buchart-Horn Inc.

Consideration of the new projects comes as construction is justgetting under way for a second parking garage at the airport. Thatproject, costing $6.5 million, will add 706 parking spaces to the1,100 spaces the airport already has in its first parking garage andsurface lots. It is scheduled to be completed in the spring.

Contact writer Jim Wallace at jimw@dailymail.com or 348-4819.