Muskegon County Airport Airport Advisory Committee Tuesday, March 6, 2018 12:00 Noon Airport Terminal Lake Michigan Room Agenda 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Minutes – February 6, 2018 3. Informational Items a. Airport Manager’s Report – March 2018 4. Action Items a. Approval of Charter Operator Rates & Fees 5. Old Business 6. New Business 7. Adjournment Airport Advisory Committee Members Robert Gustason (Public) – Term Exp. 12/31/19 Terry Boer (Business Park) – Term Exp. 12/31/18 Brandon Popps (Private) – Term Exp. 12/31/18 Anthony Chandler (Norton Shores) – Term Exp. 12/31/19 Robert Scolnik (Commissioner) – Term Exp. 12/31/18 Rich Houtteman (Private) – Term Exp. 12/31/19 Rillastine Wilkins (Commissioner) – Term by Virtue of Office Kenneth Mahoney (Commissioner) – Term Exp. 12/31/18 Cindy Larson (Chamber) – Term Exp. 12/31/17 David Kendall (Public) – Term Exp. 12/31/19 Vacant (Business Park) Muskegon County Airport 99 Sinclair Drive Muskegon, MI 49441 231-798-4596 Muskegon County Airport Airport Advisory Committee Lake Michigan Room February 6, 2018 Muskegon County Airport CALL TO ORDER The Airport Advisory Committee meeting was called to order at 12:04 pm Present: Anthony Chandler, Rich Houtteman, Dave Kendall, Ken Mahoney, Bob Scolnik, Rillastine Wilkins Excused: None Staff: Rita Bierman, Dianne Hoofman, Bob Lukens, Jeff Tripp Guests: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Wilkins, supported by Chandler to approve the Minutes of January 9, 2018, as written. Motion Carried. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS The Airport Manager’s Report was included in the packets distributed to the Committee prior to the meeting. The various activities and projects were discussed. SkyWest’s new flight schedule starts February 15 and the second Saturday flight starts on February 17. SkyWest’s new lease rates began February 1, 2018. The March Laughlin charter is sold out. The design work for the upgrades to the Terminal security checkpoint and baggage screening areas is complete. Staff will solicit quotes now for the construction phase. The next Airport triennial emergency plan exercise planning meeting is scheduled for February 7, 2018. Airport Advisory Committee February 6, 2018 ACTION ITEMS Approval to acquire ARFF vehicle. A motion was made by Chandler, supported by Wilkins to recommend approval of the acquisition of a surplus Airport Rescue and Firefighting vehicle, at no charge, from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Motion Carried. Approval of Utility Easement with Consumers Energy. A motion was made by Mahoney, supported by Chandler to recommend approval of a utility easement between the County of Muskegon and Consumers Energy for FAA electrical upgrades. Motion Carried. OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS None ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Airport Advisory Committee, the meeting adjourned at 12:58 pm. AIRPORT MANAGER’S REPORT March 6, 2018 1. Airline/Charter Operations Report – January 2018 The air service operations reports for January are included as Attachments 1, 2 and 3. In January, SkyWest Airlines enplaned 1,117 passengers and deplaned 934 passengers for a total passenger count of 2,051 and a Load Factor of 34%. During calendar year 2017 the airline handled 36,884 total passengers (+1% over CY2016) with 18,714 enplanements and 18,170 deplanements and a Load Factor of 53%. For the January 2016 to January 2017 period, the flight completion rate is 94% (734 scheduled/42 cancelled). 2. Air Service & Charter Programs A. SkyWest Muskegon Station Named 2017 Tier 4 Station of the Year. The Muskegon SkyWest Airlines station has been named the United Airlines U.S. Domestic – Tier 4 Quality First Award winner for 2017. The Muskegon station won the 2017 1st Quarter award and has been ranked as one of the Tier 4’s top-5 stations (serving less than 40,860 customers annually) the remaining three quarters. This award is a reflection on the level of professionalism and dedication to customer service by the SkyWest staff. B. Airline Service Schedule. The new daily flight schedule commenced February 15 with a new morning flight departure time of 10:16 AM and an evening departure of 5:59 PM. The additional second Saturday flight started on February 17. C. United Air Fare Special to Chicago. For a limited time through April 11, 2018, customers can save with discounted rates for one-way travel to/from Muskegon to Chicago O’Hare on United Airlines. Travel must be completed by June 6, 2018. We also want to thank the marketing staff at SkyWest Airlines for their help in creating the digital ads for use on the airport webpage, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. D. Casino Flights. Laughlin, NV - Sun Country Airlines. Next trip March 15-18 (Sold Out). Atlantic City – S & S Casino Tours. Next trip May 13-16 $279 per person. This time, the flight will only operate from Muskegon rather than stop at other airports as the first flight in December did. We will continue to push for additional charter flights on a more frequent basis. E. Charter Marketing & Outreach Program. Staff continues outreach efforts to other leisure charter companies to try and add vacation destination charters or alternate casino destinations. Page | 1 3. Airport Capital Improvement Program / Grant Program A. Runway 6/24 Rehabilitation (Design Phase). Staff met with the C&S Engineers, MDOT Aeronautics, and FAA staff on March 1 to finalize the project plans and have everything ready to advertise for bids subject to notice of receipt of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation. B. Terminal Security Checkpoint and Baggage Screening improvements. Staff is soliciting proposals from contractors to complete the work. C. Air Service Marketing Grant. The Airport submitted our annual request to MDOT for the maximum allowable $10,000 grant to assist with air service marketing efforts. We are awaiting final notice of award. D. Capital Improvement & Equipment Grant. The Airport submitted our annual request to MDOT for the maximum allowable $10,000 grant to assist with additional terminal facility upgrades. Receipt of this grant is subject to availability of funds from MDOT. We are awaiting final notice of award. 4. Economic Development A. Airport Restaurant. Staff is continuing to work with an experienced food & beverage operator to start operations in the terminal. The principles are currently doing their due diligence and are working to complete their business plan. Staff is cautiously optimistic this will ultimately come to fruition and continue to work with the principles to make this a reality. B. Solar Development. The Airport has been contacted about the possibility of leasing approximately 7.5 acres of land contained in the runway protection zone for Runway 32. This land is located on the south side of Grand Haven Road and a solar facility is a compatible use. This potential project is only at the initial exploratory stage. C. Michigan Aerospace Industry Luncheon. The Airport Manager and the County Economic Development Coordinator attended this luncheon on February 28. The purpose of this luncheon is to meet and discover opportunities in Michigan for aviation/aerospace businesses to expand their business in the growing aerospace industry. Members from the Aerospace Industry Association of Michigan (AIAM) Board of Directors and subject matter experts were on hand to discuss industry trends and how Michigan's innovative companies can support the supply chain. 5. Airport Public Relations, Marketing & Advertising A. No update. 6. Airport Administration, Operations, and Maintenance Programs A. Airport Triennial Emergency Plan Exercise. The Airport is required to conduct a full-scale emergency plan exercise once every three years. The airport is planning for the next drill in September 2018. We are working with various County-wide resources to plan and conduct the drill. B. Use of Firefighting Foam at Muskegon County Airport. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is reaching out to airports that have historically used firefighting foam as part of routine fire protection and safety practices. Certain types of firefighting foam (e.g. aqueous film forming foam or “AFFF”) contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and, more specifically the hazardous substances perflurooctanic acid (PFOA) or perflurooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Page | 2 As of January 10, 2018, groundwater criteria for drinking water protection for PFOA and PFOS were established by DEQ under the authority of Part 201, Environmental Remediation, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended (NREPA). DEQ has requested the airport provide information relating to the historical use of PFAS-containing substances at the Airport. If the information provided to DEQ indicates the likely release of PFOA or PFOS to the environment at levels above the established Part 201 criteria (70 parts per trillion), the DEQ will request a work plan be submitted describing proposed actions to define the nature and extent of PFOA/PFOS and to conduct response activities as necessary to protect public health and the environment. C. FAA Navigational Procedure Update. Between December 23, 2016 and January 16, 2017, SkyWest was forced to cancel 16 roundtrip flights due to issues relating to navigational aids (NAVAIDS) and lack of secondary navigation equipment carried on SkyWest aircraft. The ground-based navigation system (VOR - VHF omnidirectional radio range) is a type of short-range radio navigation system for aircraft to determine their position and stay on course by receiving radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio beacons. Muskegon’s two VOR’s, which are owned and operated by FAA, are scheduled to be removed from service in the near future (by 2025). SkyWest Airlines is mandated by Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 121.349 which requires navigational redundancy of the flight management system (FMS) capabilities, which the CRJ-200 aircraft currently used do not have. The requirement for a back-up FMS is that, in the event of failure of the primary FMS, pilots are able to revert to ground-based navigation (VOR’s).