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Mar. 31--CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Yeager Airport's runway extension project could be delayed if the Federal Aviation Administration does not sign off soon on a planned in-pavement approach lighting system.
The FAA has already been reviewing the approach lighting system, or ALS, for more than nine months, Airport Director Rick Atkinson told members of the airport's governing board on Wednesday
Yeager's main runway can't be paved until the lights -- used to orient incoming pilots to the runway's alignment -- are installed. With the paving season about to begin, continued failure to approve the system would delay the resurfacing and striping of the newly extended runway.
Atkinson and construction committee chairman Bill Forbes said the Charleston airport has repeated asked the FAA's eastern regional office to review and approve Yeager's ALS in order to avoid construction delays.
"I'll be sending them my last nice e-mail today," Atkinson said. "If by April 8 we don't receive their approval, we'll be contacting our congressional delegation, and asking for their help."
Once approval is granted, it will take about one month to install the ALS lights and another month to complete the paving. All of the runway work will be done at night to avoid interrupting airline flight schedules.
The Charleston airport's new passenger drop-off area canopy should be complete by the end of April, and work on a new terminal building fire sprinkler system is expected to be done by early June, Atkinson said.
American Airlines will inaugurate nonstop service to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday, and a ceremony to commemorate the event will take place when the first Charleston-bound flight arrives at 4 p.m.
If the area's response to the Chicago service meets the airline's expectations, new service to one or more of its two remaining hubs -- Dallas or Miami -- is possible, according to Atkinson, with Dallas being the most likely candidate.
Atkinson said American has announced no plans to expand service at Yeager. "But when they serve a city, they generally provide service to multiple hubs," he said.
Atkinson told board members they will likely have to wait several more months until the National Transportation Safety Board releases reports on two aborted takeoff incidents involving commercial flights at the Charleston airport in January and February.
"It generally takes six to eight months from the date of the incident for the NTSB to complete its investigation," he said.
In other developments, the airport's finance committee was directed to come up with a plan for valet parking service for Yeager passengers. The idea of valet parking, along with a possible car-wash component, came from a University of Charleston master's degree in business administration project that studied non-aeronautical business opportunities at Yeager.
Retired Col. Bill Peters, the 130th Airlift Wing's liaison with Yeager's governing board, reported that the Air National Guard unit generated $76 million in salaries, local purchases and construction during 2009.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at [email protected] or 304-348-5169.
