After finalizing an agreement with nearby landowners and after getting local approval for federal grant funding in May, the Henderson City-County Airport is ready to begin its long-awaited airport runway extension.
Preparations for the construction will begin as early as this week with construction starting June 30, said Emily Herron, the general manager of the airport.
She said the construction will last 150 days, and there will be no takeoffs or landings in that period, except for infrequent helicopter operations.
Project details
The Federal Aviation Administration has required the local airport to move the threshold of the eastern part of the runway away from Ky. 136. The far eastern edge of the runway is too close to the highway, which could cause problems for aircraft coming in to land from both the east or the west, Herron said.
If a plane arriving from the west and moving east were to have problems on the landing and needed extra space, the highway’s location doesn’t allow it, she said.
Coming from the other way, there could be problems with clearance as a plane passes over the highway.
The runway project takes care of both. Herron said the eastern threshold of the runway will be moved 600 feet to the east, allowing for enough clearance over the highway for planes coming from the east and enough space beyond the runway if problems were to occur with planes landing from the west and traveling east.
A second piece of the project is to extend the length of the runway by 1,000 feet. The formerly 5,500 foot runway will soon be 6,500 feet.
Finally, Herron said the project calls for tearing out all the current runway to the subgrade and completing a total reconstruction of it. When the reconstruction is complete, the pavement classification number, or the load-bearing classification of the runway, will increase.
A longer runway and heavier load-bearing capacity will allow for bigger planes, such as corporate jets, to use the airport, Herron said.
Benefits
Herron said residents, however, shouldn’t expect commercial flights anytime soon. That service is a long way off, and though she doesn’t like to say never, perhaps never. It’s a matter of proximity to the Evansville Regional Airport, which is just 16 miles away and offers numerous flights to final destinations and hubs throughout the country.
The county’s population is also considered when determining the viability of commercial flights locally, she said. And right now, the local population can’t support commercial service, she said.
Where the benefits lie locally are with economic development, both in the possibility of bringing new industry to town and offering service to existing industry, said Herron and Henderson Economic Development Executive Director Missy Vanderpool.
Vanderpool said the precise benefits of the extended runway are not yet known.
“There are a lot of opportunities we haven’t explored yet because it hasn’t been available in the past,” Vanderpool said.
She said, though, it’s going to be positive. Vanderpool said it’s not always about what counties have, but what they don’t have when big industry looks at moving there. Industry officials generally attempt to eliminate locations based on what they don’t have as they attempt to find the site with all the attributes it needs, she said.
Having the longer runway is one of the attributes that could keep Henderson locations in the running to land an industry. It’s “another way to attract them and not have that elimination be in the way,” she said.
Vanderpool also said that she knows that industries here have people in town from corporate offices or visitors on a weekly basis. The new runway may allow them to fly into the Henderson airport, she said.
And, there’s also the possibility now of the airport being used to fly in supplies for different industries, she said.
She said the opportunities will be explored with Herron.
Herron said that a major benefit to pilots will be the increased safety that the longer runway can provide. When pilots run into bad weather or mechanical failures occur, a longer runway allows them more leeway in landing the aircraft safely, Herron said.
Costs
The total project cost is $13.972 million. The bulk of the funding comes from a Community Project Grant, which is money from a federal program that in general goes toward community improvements. Herron said that money was secured through the help of U.S. Rep. Jamie Comer. That grant totals $12.04 million.
Two other grants are a part of the funding. One is an Airport Improvement Grant, which is administered by the Federal Aviation Administration. That totals $473,687 with local and state matching funding included, according to a document shared by the city of Henderson.
There’s also an Airport Infrastructure Grant, totaling $974,525 with local and state matches included. This AIG Grant is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
As mentioned, state and local governments needed to provide matching funds with all the federal grants. The city of Henderson and Henderson County Fiscal Court each approved allocations of $269,613, funding that includes the 1.25% match for all three grants plus a $100,917.80 overrun. Herron said the overrun money has been put in place as protection against holdups that may cause the construction to last longer than its scheduled 150 days.
State government is providing a total of $612,390, the document shows.
Past
Allen Bennett, the former airport manager who has stayed on the project as a consultant, began the attempts to get the runway extended. Henderson County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider said in a recent fiscal court meeting that he believes the project was an initiative when he first came on as the county judge-executive in 2016. Others says it’s been on the airport’s radar longer.
But legal skirmishes have delayed the start of the project. In the past, the airport had entered into eminent domain proceedings with nearby landowners; legal skirmishes have gone on for years.
At both the May 27 fiscal court and Henderson City Commission meetings, both bodies approved paying a portion of a $12,000 settlement fee that would end the litigation with the landowners. Insurance providers for both local governments will pay $8,000 with the city and county dividing up the final $4,000, according to Davis Hunter, the attorney who represented the city, county and airport in the proceedings.
Future
Herron said the airport runway project not only includes the longer runway, but also an extended parallel taxiway and an upgrade of the airfield lighting system to LED lights.
The airport currently has in place a fixed base operator, Don Davis Aviation, which provides full-service fueling, a full-service maintenance department, a courtesy car for pilots and crew waiting to take off and ground power unit which allows jets to start their engines without having to use their own batteries, Herron said.
All together, the airport’s services and facilities will increase its marketability, Herron said.
So, what’s next?
Herron said a first order of business after the runway project is completed is to write an airport layout plan, a document that every airport is required to create and submit to the FAA.
The airport and its board, along with community stakeholders, will look at what’s needed in the next 20 years, Herron said.
She said one piece that will probably be investigated is an increase in the type and amount of energy that is provided at the airport. That’s in response to current aviation technology which, like all technology these days, won’t slow down, Herron said.
She suspects that advanced air mobility will be a topic of conversation when stakeholders gather to discuss the airport layout plan. According to the FAA’s website, advance air mobility “is an umbrella term for aircraft that are typically highly automated, electrically powered, and have vertical take-off and landing capability. Many of these aircraft fall into the powered-lift category are often referred to as air taxis.”
That includes eVTOL—electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Herron said she didn’t know if these aircraft will be in operation at the Henderson airport in the next 10—15 years, but it’s worth a discussion because “we also don’t want to be left behind” from other airports utilizing the technology.
