A Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission committee Wednesday recommended proposals to spend up to $800,000 on a new master plan for Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field.
Much of the commercial aviation landscape has changed since the state's largest airport completed its last master plan in 2007.
Eight years ago, the Federal Aviation Administration forecast Clinton National would have 1.5 million boardings by 2013, for example. The airport reached just more than 1 million boardings in 2013, according to agency data.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires Clinton National and other airports to periodically update their master plans to guide airport improvements in upcoming years and to determine whether they match up with passenger traffic. The FAA is picking up 90 percent of the cost.
The FAA is forecasting fewer passengers for Clinton National, saying annual boardings will stay below 1 million through 2023.
"There are much fewer airlines today," Ron Mathieu, the airport's executive director, said after Wednesday's meeting. "The industry has consolidated. Our emplanements have gone down in large part because of that."
Still, airport officials say they need the master plan to ensure that what they plan to spend on improvements will have the FAA's support.
The master plan is "what the FAA uses to justify the capital improvement program," said Tom Clarke, the properties, planning and development director for Clinton National.
For each boarding, the airport receives $4.50 in passenger facility charges that it can spend on airport improvements. One million boardings equates to $4.5 million annually.
Airport staff members selected the global consultant firm LeighFisher Inc. to conduct comprehensive airport planning services that include developing the master plan and some subsequent on-call planning services.
Another firm, Woolpert Inc., was picked to develop an airport layout plan and data collection. Airport staff members said they needed a separate firm with the expertise to produce an electronic airport layout plan, which the FAA didn't require in 2007.
Should the commission approve both recommendations at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, the airport will still have to negotiate an agreement with both firms.
Virgil Miller Jr., the committee chairman, and another committee member, Bob East, asked about the potential cost, which East said was quite a bit more than what the airport spent in 2007. The cost of the 2007 master plan wasn't immediately available Wednesday.
The firm of Barnard Dunkelberg & Co. prepared the 2007 master plan for $497,471, according to Shane Carter, the airport spokesman. The fee included both the work for the master plan and the airport layout plan, he said in an e-mail Thursday.
Bryan Malinowski, the airport's deputy executive director, said the higher cost stems from the electronic airport layout plan the FAA now requires.
He noted that a master plan for Tulsa International Airport cost more than the $800,000 Clinton National has estimated for its master plan. In putting together the requests for proposals, the airport also worked with the FAA.
"The same people who are paying 90 percent of the cost are the same people who helped us," Malinowski said.
Metro on 07/17/2015