"Small Florida Municipal Airport Sizing Up Giant Jet Plan"

Monday, September 10, 2001

Bartow Still Sizing Up Giant Jet Plan
By BILL HEERY
The Tampa (FL) Tribune


BARTOW - Bartow Municipal Airport seems an unlikely destination for the
jet set. 

A World War II military training base, the airport isn't served by a
commercial airline. On average, the airport sees 150 to 200 takeoffs and
landings per day, mostly by small planes. 

But a group of investors wants to turn the airport into an international
port of entry for what will be the largest bird in the sky - a 1.2
million- pound Airbus jet that can carry as many as 555 passengers
across the oceans. 

The investors, Central Florida Airport Developers, say they are willing
to spend an estimated $100 million to transform the site into an
international airport. 

They want to extend one of the runways from 5,000 to 12,000 feet and
build a new terminal. The airport would cater to the Airbus A-380, which
is scheduled to take to the skies in about five years. Under the group's
proposal, the Airbus could fly into Bartow, where passengers would then
head to such destinations as Orlando and Tampa. 

The investors, who first approached the city this year, want to lease
about 1,000 acres of airport property. They have given the city $72,500
for a feasibility study to be conducted by the airport's consultant, URS
Corp. But the plans hit a snag recently when city commissioners, who
serve as the city's airport authority, balked at signing a letter of
intent for improvements such as an access road to a terminal. 

Commissioners are concerned the investors haven't submitted information
about their backgrounds. And opposition is mounting among residents who
say the big planes would be too noisy. 

Pie In The Sky? 

Some are skeptical of the proposal to bring 500 to 1,000 passengers a
day into the airport. ``I think the project sounds like pie in the
sky,'' said John Haas, sales manager for a high-lift truck company. 

``It doesn't seem logical that people would fly to Bartow and then have
to be bused to Disney World or other attractions in the area when they
could fly into Orlando and be right there,'' said Haas. ``I can't see
the city spending any taxpayers' money until a feasibility study is
presented with good foundation.'' 

But the proposal also has supporters. 

``I think it would be good for our economy in Polk County,'' said Bubba
McLeod, owner of a Bartow boat business. 

Local attractions such as Cypress Gardens, Fantasy of Flight and Bok
Tower could benefit, McLeod said. And eventually there could be an
increase in hotels and resorts in Polk. 

Ned Davis, 80, an investor and a consultant to the development group's
chairman, Walter Troutman, 89, of Miami, said last week that the group
wants a letter of intent from the airport authority before it spends
$250,000 on a financial study. 

Davis - who describes himself as an ``international businessman'' and
lives in a home owned by Troutman at the River Ranch Resort east of Lake
Wales - said he hopes to talk about the unresolved issues when city
commissioners meet tonight in their capacity as the airport authority. 

But Davis stopped short of saying the letter of intent for the airport
improvements is mandatory for the group's plans to go forward. 

Bartow Mayor Pat Crisman doubts the city is going to make any promises. 

``The indication at the last meeting was that none of us were in favor
of giving anything else. The agreement we made was the agreement we
made. I wouldn't give them any other commitments. If they don't want to
go forward, that's fine.'' 

City Commissioner Cal Adams, chairman of the airport authority, said
he'll wait and see what the developer has to say. ``At [tonight's]
meeting, we're going to ask them why they've messed around so long and
not gone ahead with the [financial] survey and things they're going to
do.'' 

Adams said the authority asked the investment group for resumes on its
participants months ago. It received a list of names with addresses and
telephone numbers, but no background information, he said. 

Airbus A-380 Operational in 2006 Last year, Airbus Industrie of France
announced it would build the Airbus A-380, capable of carrying 555
people on overseas flights, compared with 417 seats on today's largest
commercial aircraft - the Boeing 747-400. The passenger Airbus is
scheduled to be in operation in 2006, Mary Anne Greczyn of Airbus
Industrie said. 

Mark Luginbill, a spokesman for Airbus, said the company is working with
Miami International Airport and Orlando International Airport to help
them prepare for the Airbus A-380. ``That's not to say other airports
[in Florida)] can't handle the A-380, but we're talking to airports we
think will have a good chance to see the airplane when it comes out.'' 

The Airbus will not require a runway any longer than a Boeing 747 would
and probably could land at most major airports today, Luginbill said.
The bigger issues, he said, are larger concourses to taxi and turn and
adequate terminal space to handle the hundreds of passengers and
luggage. Some new aircraft longer than the Airbus will become
operational before the A-380, he said, so the taxiway size should be
addressed by the time the Airbus is ready. 

Luginbill said he hadn't heard of the proposal to bring the new Airbus
to Bartow. 

Concerns About Noise 

In the meantime, the Airbus proposal has opposition, primarily because
of concern about noise. The city commission has received an opposition
petition signed by about 250 people, most of whom live in the retirement
community of Floral Lakes. 

Commissioner Leo Longworth said residents of Gordon Heights, a community
on the south side of the airport, have expressed concerns about the
noise potential. And at the airport authority's last meeting, William
Bright, the principal investor in Old Florida Plantation, a planned
residential development projected to have nearly 5,000 homes, told the
authority his group believes the large airplanes flying overhead would
``kill'' the project. 

Old Florida, about a mile west of the airport, is in the approach zone
to the airport. 

An Airbus representative said the plane will have to meet all
international standards and won't be any noisier than some commercial
jets now in the air. 

Other concerns expressed by local residents were the possibility of
agricultural diseases such as canker being brought into Central Florida
from overseas and increased truck traffic on U.S. 17, between Bartow and
Winter Haven, if the airport becomes a cargo center. 

To appease the opposition, Davis said, the group is willing to accept a
smaller runway of 8,400 feet, which would not accommodate the Airbus but
would still allow an international airport with conventional passenger
and cargo jets. 

Supporters of the proposal say it will bring jobs to the airport: Davis
has predicted more than 1,000 jobs if the runway large enough for an
Airbus is built. Davis also says one or two Airbus flights a day would
not be a noise problem. 

``I think it would be one of the greatest things that's ever happened to
Bartow,'' said 80-year-old Dick Pipes, a retired swimming pool builder. 

Attached Photo:

Terry White of Bartow Municipal Airport points to a runway that would be
expanded.

bartow.jpg