Airport Role and Activity Forecasts

2 Airport Role and Activity Forecasts AIRPORT ROLE Present Arcata-Eureka Airport is one of nine, public-use airports in Hum- boldt County. The airport is an essential component of the transportation system for the greater Humboldt County Region. Ar- cata-Eureka Airport’s principal role is to serve as a base of operations for scheduled airline services. In this capacity, the airport is designated as a primary commercial airport in the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. This and other facets of the airport’s role are further described below. ! A Source of Scheduled Passenger and Cargo Service— Skywest and Horizon Airlines provide regularly scheduled commercial airline service between Arcata-Eureka Airport and Port- land, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles International Airports. Several dedicated cargo companies (e.g., Federal Ex- press, United Parcel Service, AmeriFlight, and Union Flight) also operate out of Arcata-Eureka Airport on a daily basis. During major holidays, some of these cargo shippers utilize larger aircraft and provide additional flights to meet increased de- Humboldt Bay mand. This availability of flights to major connecting hubs and significant destination airports are of paramount importance to the citizens and businesses in the Humboldt County Region. Arcata-Eureka Airport Master Plan Report (September 2005) 2–1 CHAPTER 2 AIRPORT ROLE AND ACTIVITY FORECASTS Personal/recreational flying: the use of ! A Point of Air Access to the Community—Arcata-Eureka aircraft by individuals (in their own, rented, or borrowed aircraft) for pleasure, Airport is a means of accessing the Humboldt County Region recreational, or personal transportation for recreation and business. Recreational users include those to not in furtherance of their occupation or company business. whom flying is itself a form of recreation and those using aircraft to access places which are interesting and enjoyable to Business flying: the use of aircraft by pilots (not receiving direct salary or com- visit. As Arcata-Eureka Airport is the only airport in the Hum- pensation for piloting) in connection with boldt County Region providing commercial service, many busi- their occupation, their employer’s business, or in the furtherance of private nesses rely on the airport for the transportation of their goods business. and services. Corporate flying: the use of aircraft, ! owned or leased, and operated by a cor- Site for Emergency Access to the Community—Following poration or business firm, for the trans- calamities such as a major earthquake, fire, or flood, airports are portation of personnel or cargo in furtherance of the corporation’s or firm’s often of critical importance as points of community access for business, and which are flown by profes- emergency and relief services. In addition, when regional sional pilots receiving a direct salary or ground access routes (i.e., roads, highways, and rail lines) are compensation for piloting. severed by a disaster, transportation by air may be the only means of effectively moving about and deliver- ing supplies. It is essential that airport facilities remain operational or can quickly become operational after such events. In these emergency circumstances, airports often see use by aircraft that are larger than those normally accommodated. It is also vital that the airport have useable local ground access to the surrounding community. Having both the U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue Base and the Aircraft Res- Coast Guard Group / Air Station Humboldt Bay cue and Fire Fighting (A.R.F.F.) Base at the airport McKinleyville makes this operational role an important one for the Arcata-Eureka Airport. ! A Place to Conduct Business—An important role of Arcata- Eureka Airport is as a place of business. There are several businesses at Arcata-Eureka Airport, including three car rental services, as well as Skywest and Horizon Airlines, which provide passenger and freight services. Also present at the airport is the Federal Service Station, U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue Base, Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Base, a restaurant, and the County’s Aviation Department. These businesses contrib- ute to the local economy through their payrolls and purchases of goods and services. ! A Base for Humboldt County Region Pilots—Nine aircraft are currently based at Arcata-Eureka Airport. One aircraft, a Falcon 50, is stored in the Kodiak hangar. There are also four piston aircraft parked on the tiedown apron. The four other aircraft are Coast Guard helicopters. 2–2 Arcata-Eureka Airport Master Plan Report (September 2005) AIRPORT ROLE AND ACTIVITY FORECASTS CHAPTER 2 Future The terrorist events of September 11, 2001, seriously affected the nation’s already weakened air transportation system. Earlier that year, the nation’s aviation industry was experiencing declines in passenger demand (e.g., domestic and international) primarily in response to a slowing economy. The events of September 11th acted as a catalyst for the sharp declines in air carrier activity and ensuing financial difficulties for the airline industry. While the events of September 11th did negatively impact many sectors of aviation, the smaller regional/commuter airliners continued to experience growth in enplanements in 2001. Although there are many uncertainties in predicting demand for aviation services, many experts (e.g., Federal Aviation Administra- tion, aviation analysts, etc.) anticipate that in the long-term the airline industry will recover and airports will once again experience growth in commercial and general aviation operations. For the foreseeable future, it is anticipated that the operational role of Arcata-Eureka Airport as a commercial airport will remain es- sentially the same as at present. The airport will continue to include significant use by scheduled passenger airliners, dedicated cargo aircraft, business/corporate general aviation aircraft, and personal general aviation aircraft. It is anticipated that with future develop- ment of the airport facilities that the airport will experience moder- ate growth over the long run. The future role of the airport will be defined not by the introduction of new uses, but by changes of the existing uses – changes in the volume of activity and the types of aircraft (i.e., fleet mix). ISTORICAL IRPORT CTIVITY H A A Number of Year Enplaned Passengers Scheduled Passenger Enplanements 1990 68,868 1991 72,782 Enplaning passengers are those who board a departing aircraft 1992 77,492 from an airport providing commercial airline service. Arcata- 1993 66,627 1994 75,456 Eureka Airport has been the only airport in the Humboldt County 1995 86,992 Region to consistently offer scheduled passenger service for the 1996 90,710 past 20 years. 1997 95,274 1998 95,448 1999 101,982 The service area for airline service includes both Humboldt and 2000 100,238 Del Norte Counties. Direct service is offered from Arcata-Eureka 2001 100,976 2002 89,326 to Portland, Redding, Sacramento and San Francisco International 2003 91,397 Airports. Some northbound passengers originating in northern 2004 98,453 Arcata-Eureka Airport Master Plan Report (September 2005) 2–3 CHAPTER 2 AIRPORT ROLE AND ACTIVITY FORECASTS Humboldt and Del Norte Counties drive to Medford (Oregon) to begin their flights. The adjacent table presents the total number of passengers enplaned in Humboldt County each year since 1990. Until the trag- edy of 9-11, Arcata-Eureka Airport had been experiencing growth in annual enplaned passengers averaging 10.3%. After a decline following 9-11, growth is once again occurring. Annual enplanements grew 2.3% in 2003 and 7.7% in 2004. Enplaned Cargo Annual Cargo Records for enplaned and deplaned cargo (including mail) are (Metric Tons) available for calendar years 2000 through 2004. The tonnage Year Enplane Deplane 2000 301 299 shown includes both scheduled airliners and the small-package 2001 299 472 shippers. Skywest (operating as United Express) ceased carrying 2002 236 373 cargo after 9-11. Horizon Airlines temporarily suspended trans- 2003 154 348 2004 322 399 port of cargo following 9-11, but subsequently resumed shipping. Arcata–Eureka Airport is served by a number of small-package cargo operations: Airborne Express (for Union Flights) West Air (for Fed Ex) Ameriflight (for Rapid Package, UPS, Consolidated Routing, and Golden State) Redding Aero (for UPS) The decline following the events of 9-11 appears to have been re- versed. Enplaned cargo in 2004 exceeded the tonnage shipped in year 2000. While deplaned cargo has not returned to pre 9-11 lev- els, it did show a vigorous 14% growth from year 2003 to 2004. Commercial Fleet Skywest Airlines Embraer 120 Skywest Airlines currently utilizes two types of aircraft: a 30-seat twin-engine, turboprop corporate aircraft (e.g., Brasilia EMB 120) and a 50-seat regional jet airliner (e.g., Bombardier CRJ 200). Ho- rizon Airlines flies a 70-seat regional turboprop airliner (e.g., Bom- bardier Dash 8, Q400 Series) and a regional jet airliner (e.g., Bom- bardier CRJ 200). Federal Express, one of the cargo shippers, flies a single-engine, turboprop aircraft (e.g., Cessna Caravan). Occa- sionally, Federal Express will utilize a larger aircraft during the bus- ier holidays (e.g., Christmas) to meet the temporary increase in de- Horizon Airlines Q400 mand. 2–4 Arcata-Eureka Airport Master Plan Report (September 2005) AIRPORT ROLE AND ACTIVITY FORECASTS CHAPTER 2 Commercial and General Aviation Activity The Arcata-Eureka Airport is currently a non-towered facility. As with nearly all non-towered airports, no comprehensive counts of aircraft operations are conducted at Arcata-Eureka Airport. There- fore, current operations are, of necessity, estimated. The only ac- tual counts available are those samples taken by the California De- partment of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics (DOA) staff. The Division of Aeronautics periodically estimates the number of operations at non-towered airports using data gathered by an acoustical aircraft counter.

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