"Fort Wayne Airport Authority cuts budget by about $3 million"

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Airport Authority cuts budget by about $3 million
Miller says airport will still maintain its property, equipment.
By Kevin Leininger
The Fort Wayne (IN) News-Sentinel


A sluggish economy and slumping airline industry have conspired to cut local
spending on Fort Wayne's two airports by about $3 million next year.

The Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority's 2004 budget of $16.8 million
- outlined at a hearing Monday - is about 16 percent less than the current
budget of $20.7 million. But the cuts are necessary, Executive Director Skip
Miller said, because of stagnant ticket sales and to avoid increasing costs
for airlines already struggling to make a profit.

Traffic at Fort Wayne International in July was up by just 0.13 percent over
last year's level, which had decreased considerably from 2001 because of the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. For the year, traffic in Fort Wayne is up by
slightly less than 1 percent - better than the national average, but not
enough to sustain increased spending. Nor is air travel expected to reach
pre-Sept. 11, 2001, levels until at least 2006.

Miller said the pared-down budget will allow the authority to keep its
charges to airlines the same or, in the case of rent in the terminal, lower.
The airport will still be able to adequately maintain its property and
equipment and meet all obligations to tenants and regulators.

Despite the airline industry's slump, planning is moving ahead on an
expansion that would add four jet gates at the terminal. The additional
gates would not be ready before 2007, however - by which time officials hope
air travel will have recovered from Sept. 11. Ground also could be broken in
October for a $9 million control tower.

To reduce costs, three vacant public-safety positions will not be filled
next year. As a result, the airport's tax rate will remain roughly the same,
Miller said.

Smith Field

The 2004 budget also includes only routine maintenance for Smith Field, the
small north-side airfield that had been scheduled to close July 1 before
advocates persuaded the authority to change its mind. But Mike Loomis,
attorney for Smith Airfield ForEver, or SAFE, urged board members to invest
in it. Since taking over management of Smith Field about 140 days ago, Smith
Field Air Service, which is affiliated with SAFE, has logged 2,796
operations, sold 10,527 gallons of fuel and has invested about $100,000 in
improvements to the terminal. Construction of two privately funded hangars
will begin as soon as a lease can be negotiated with the Airport Authority,
Loomis said.

"We have as many as 34 people on a waiting list" for hangar space, he said.

Loomis said he was not surprised the 2004 budget includes few frills for
Smith Field, since a long-term plan for the airport's future is not yet
complete.

"But this is like working a referee in a basketball game," he said - meaning
the squeaky wheel has a better chance of eventually getting greased.


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