Marshall Flight School, Yeager Runway/Terminal Study Get $2 Million in Federal Funding

Sep. 13—West Virginia International Yeager Airport's governing board on Monday accepted a $1.04 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant to complete the second phase of a Environmental Impact Statement for major runway and terminal improvements planned for the Charleston airport.

Also on Monday, Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced that they had secured $1 million to help cover training costs at Marshall University's Bill Noe Flight School, now in its second year of operation at the Charleston airport. That funding commitment was the result of congressionally directed spending requests the two senators, both members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, made of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Environmental Impact Statement grant will cover the cost of evaluating potential environmental effects from the airport's plans to extend its runway to 7,000 feet and add standard 1,000-foot-long, 500-foot-wide safety overrun areas at each end. That work is designed to meet the optimum takeoff length needs of the aircraft fleet projected to be operating at Yeager now and in the future, and to improve safety.

Also to be covered in the environmental study is the airport's plan to replace its 70-year-old passenger terminal with a new, three-level facility with five aircraft gates to increase efficiency and enhance passenger comfort.

The study will analyze reasonable alternatives to the development plans, and prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for further review. Once a Notice of Intent to proceed with the study is published in the congressional record, expected within the next several weeks, the public will be able to follow the study's progress by visiting the project's website at yeagerairportEIS.com.

"Additional public meetings will be held regarding the Environmental Impact Statement as we move into the fall season," said Dominique Ranieri, the airport's director and CEO.

A record of decision on the project is expected to be issued within two years.

In another development Monday, the airport board accepted a $600,000 Small Community Air Service Development Program grant to recruit, market and provide start-up revenue guarantees to an airline that resumes nonstop flights between Charleston and either Dallas or Houston.

The Texas cities are among the airport's top business travel destinations. Nonstop commercial service to Dallas ended in 2015, followed in 2017 by service to Houston. Airport officials have said the restoration of nonstop service to either of the Texas hub cities could add 20,000 departure seats annually for Charleston-area travelers.

American Airlines filed a letter with the Federal Aviation Administration supporting Charleston's grant request. Charleston was one of 25 U.S. cities to receive a grant from the program.

Rick Steelhammer is a features reporter. He can be reached at 304-348-5169 or rsteelhammer@hdmediallc

.com. Follow @rsteelhammer on Twitter.

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