Lincoln Airport Authority Board Prioritizes Attracting New Air Service in Strategic Plan

To the members of the Lincoln Airport Authority board, attracting a new air service is an obvious main goal.

Chris Stokes, one of the board's members, said it's what he hears about the most when talking to constituents.

Chris Stokes

Chris Stokes

“I mean, you line up 1,000 people from Lincoln in a row and ask each one of them, ‘What do we need at the airport?’ and they’re going to say we need more air service,” Stokes said.

Adding a new air service is among the priorities in a strategic plan for the airport the board approved Monday. The plan touches on the board’s short- and long-term goals for air service, its industrial park and other aeronautic activities.

The Lincoln Airport has United Airlines routes to Denver and Chicago, including a fifth one to Denver added this month, but lacks other air service. Following the loss of Red Way and Delta Airlines, the airport has been hoping to attract a new carrier.

The board's first priority in the strategic plan is to attract a new leisure carrier by 2026 and a mainline carrier by 2027. Leisure carriers could include airlines like Allegiant Air and Breeze Airways. Mainline carriers include airlines like Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

“Adding additional air service was the number one priority for the airport because that has been consistent, from what we've heard from community stakeholders as well as constituents,” board member Vanessa Emlich said.

The board also set increasing commercial air service seat capacity by 5% annually as a goal.

In many ways, the airport is dependent on what is going on in the larger air service industry, said Emlich, the lone board member up for reelection Tuesday.

Nationally, airline fare prices fell by about 5.3% in March following a similar decline in February, according to the Consumer Price Index, a possible sign of declining interest in flying amid economic uncertainty.

The board also wants to grow the airport’s industrial park, which includes businesses like Sadoff Iron & Metal Co. and the State Patrol Crime Laboratory. The board’s third goal is to increase the land occupancy rate of the park by 25% by 2030.

John Olsson, the board’s chair, said a lot of what the airport wants to do is dependent on funding, some of which comes from the industrial park.

John S. Olsson

Olsson

“That's why we've gotten a little bit more aggressive about trying to develop the industrial park ... bringing in a broker to help us analyze what we have there, maybe come up with some ideas on what we can do to make it look attractive and increase our interest from possible leaseholders," Olsson said.

To increase the airport's occupancy rate, the board hopes to attract at least one new business tenant and one new industrial tenant to the industrial park annually.

The board’s fourth goal prioritizes finding diverse funding sources by 2028. That includes grants, evaluating infrastructure projects, leveraging the industrial park, hangar leases and the airport’s tax levy.

The board’s final goal in the plan, which was drafted with help from Lincoln Airport staff, addresses expanding commercial, military and general aviation at the airport by 2030. The goal includes increasing available hangar space and exploring development in new parts of the airport.

David Haring, the executive director of the Lincoln Airport Authority Board, said staff can now take the blueprint's goals and objectives and create action plans.

David Haring

David Haring, executive director of the Lincoln Airport Authority.

Some of the goals are already on their way to being accomplished, Haring said. Many of the components of the first goal to attract air service have already been put into practice, including the formation of an air service development team.

“That's really what we're going to be doing over the next couple months, is coming up with the action plans of how we're going to achieve these goals,” Haring said.

Photos: First Red Way flight departs from Lincoln Airport

Take a look at Red Way's inaugural flight on June 8 out of the Lincoln Airport.

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