"Tulsa, Okla., Airport's Budget Climbs 10 Percent"

Friday, May 14, 2004

Tulsa, Okla., Airport's Budget Climbs 10 Percent
Tulsa (OK) World


Tulsa Airport Authority trustees Thursday approved a $31.26 million
2004-2005 budget for the Tulsa Airport Improvement Trust, a 9.9 percent
increase from the current budget.

The TAIT budget includes a 9.1 percent increase in the airport authority
operating budget, including increased security costs at Tulsa
International Airport, and a 27.1 percent increase in debt service
costs.

Airports Director Brent Kitchen said the airport authority operating
budget includes increases for security, utilities and legal expenses.

Kitchen said the authority will hire seven airport safety officers and
add four maintenance positions after July 1, the start of the
authority's new fiscal year. The added safety officers will permit the
airport to reduce its reliance on temporary off-duty law enforcement
officers, thereby cutting overtime. The new maintenance positions are
needed to monitor and repair the airport's baggage conveyor system,
Kitchen said.

"The new airport safety officers will bring us up to 40 ASOs," he said.
"We've never had that many before. The officers perform law enforcement
functions as well as operations duties. They inspect the (air) field,
for instance."

The TAIT budget, which has been approved by the airlines serving Tulsa
International, includes 9.1 percent increases in lease rates in the
passenger terminal and a 3.5 percent increase in aircraft landing fees,
from $1.92 per thousand pounds of gross landed weight to $1.99.

Kitchen said fewer commercial aircraft operations at Tulsa International
reduced landed weights, which required trustees to increase landing fees
to stay even.

Trustees also approved a five-year, $147.46 million capital improvement
plan that includes 19 airport projects.

The capital improvement plan includes $15 million budgeted during the
next fiscal year to continue the authority's aircraft noise mitigation
program; $4 million to rehabilitate and reconstruct taxiways; $6.7
million for airfield drainage projects; $9.6 million to extend the
crosswind east-west runway and adjacent taxiway north of Air Force Plant
No. 3; and $2.3 million to seal coat the general aviation runway at
Tulsa International.

The board also accepted pending grants totaling nearly $6.5 million from
the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA has notified airport staff
that the agency has approved the grants. The grant money will be
distributed during the next month, Kitchen said.

A $3.1 million FAA grant is pending for the airline passenger terminal
expansion project, another $3.1 million grant has been approved for
airfield improvements, taxiway rehabilitation and acquisition of
firefighting vehicles, and a $285,000 grant is pending to update the
airport master plan.

In April, airline passenger traffic at Tulsa International totaled
243,724 travelers, a 14.9 percent increase compared with April 2003. It
is the second straight month of near-15 percent increases in passenger
traffic, officials said.

For the first four months of the year, 924,656 passengers boarded or
deplaned commercial aircraft at Tulsa International, an 8.9 percent
increase over the same period a year ago.

In April, 13,913 aircraft operations were recorded at Tulsa
International, a 1.5 percent decrease from April 2003. Airline
operations were down 5.5 percent.

During the first four months, 55,196 aircraft operations were reported,
down 0.14 percent from the same period a year ago.

Commenting on the differences between passenger traffic counts at Tulsa
International and Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, which
hasn't experienced the passenger traffic slump many airports have
endured during the past three years, Chairman Ron Turner said Oklahoma
City has advantages.

"The FAA (Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center) is sitting on their airport
with 5,000 employees, and the state capital is there," Turner said.
"There is a reason (Will Rogers) passenger traffic doesn't reflect the
local economy. We don't have the government entities to back us up like
they do."


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