Second ILS Put into Service at Wiley Post Airport

Jan. 13, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, January 6, 2012 – A new Instrument Landing System (ILS) has been installed at Wiley Post Airport (PWA) giving pilots more capability to land at the airport during inclement weather conditions. The new ILS will be the second system installed at PWA and is located on the south end of 35R, the airport’s primary runway. The other ILS is located on the north end of 17L, the other primary runway. With this addition, instrument-equipped planes have all-weather availability to the Oklahoma City airport.

An ILS is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision course and glide path information to an aircraft that is approaching or landing on a runway when low ceilings or reduced visibility, such as fog, rain or blowing snow, are present. In Oklahoma, these conditions can occur frequently in late fall and winter impacting a large number of operations at Wiley Post. Prior to the addition of the new ILS, planes approaching from the north during inclement weather would not be able to land and would divert to Will Rogers World Airport; a potentially costly occurrence to pilots and corporations.

“The new ILS provides a significantly higher level of service for Wiley Post Airport,” says Tim Whitman, General Aviation Manager for Wiley Post and Clarence E. Page Airports. “Our tenants are thrilled with the new system. For many, if they can’t fly into the airport, they can’t do business, so this system is not only important to them, but to the airport overall.”

The added ILS may also attract new business to the area. Two ILS systems at general aviation airports are rare, so for PWA, this is a very attractive amenity to corporate flight departments and general aviation pilots looking for airports to call home.

The system was commissioned by the FAA, and the Oklahoma City Airport Trust managed the construction. The total cost of the project was $3.1 million. The majority of the project was funded by corporate excise tax revenues received from the sales of aircraft in Oklahoma. The remaining was funded by The Oklahoma City Airport Trust and The Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission. Now that the project is complete, the FAA will operate and maintain the system.

Wiley Post has over 480 aircraft based on the airport. The majority of the aircraft are equipped with the instruments needed to utilize the ILS systems.