"Sun Valley, Idaho, Hosts Resort Airport Conference"

Thursday, September 11, 2003

Sun Valley, Idaho, Hosts Resort Airport Conference
The Twin Falls (IA) Times-News


HAILEY, Idaho--Managers of so-called U.S. resort airports are scheduled to
gather in Sun Valley in mid-October to share possible solutions to mutual
operational headaches facing airfields in otherwise tranquil communities.

Some 100 such operations qualify as resort airports, according to Friedman
Memorial Airport manager Rick Baird, although severe budget cuts probably
will restrict the conference to about 20 airport managers from around the
country.

Hailey's Friedman Memorial is considered a resort airport, although rated as
Idaho's second busiest commercial field, second only to Boise.

Not surprisingly, some of the same issues facing Hailey's airport are
identical to issues at other resort airports regardless of location, Baird
said, and will be the backbone of the two-day conference Oct. 12-14 at the
Sun Valley Resort.

Included among discussions will be aircraft noise, post 9-11 security,
community subsidies for airlines to attract air service, effects of unsteady
seasonal operations, and impact of regional jets and fractional ownership of
aircraft on smaller airports that have increased traffic volume.

Hosts for the meeting -- the American Association of Airport Executives and
its Northwest chapter -- have lined up what Baird called "high-powered
speakers" to discuss the practical problems of smaller airports.

The resort airport managers had their first meeting planned for October
2001, but it was canceled after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and
Washington. The first conference was held last year in Sun Valley.

Some of the recent issues at the Hailey airport: Friedman Memorial's
governing body already has decided it may need to build a much larger new
airport at some distant site removed from mountains that restrict traffic
patterns. That would open the way for larger commercial and private jets now
banned from Friedman or unable to operate there because of restrictions.

Noise abatement is one of the ongoing issues at Friedman.

And a government subsidy to encourage airline service into Hailey has been
critical for the Wood River Valley.

Also, without funding from the Transportation Security Administration to pay
for the Hailey police department's security work at the airport, security
would be a financial burden on the airport.


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