Kelso Airport Sees Growth in Business, Partly Due To Skilled Workers, Officials Say

Sep. 2—The Southwest Washington Regional Airport is seeing more air traffic and businesses, with officials setting their sights on new projects to improve the terminals and attract even more people to the Kelso-based airfield.

"We've been through a huge transition," airport Manager Chris Paolini said during a roundtable attended by U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. "When people fly into the airport, whether it's for business or government, it is their first impression of the community."

Paolini pointed to having three fixed-base operators — Cascade Air, Northwest Aviation and Pacific Aircraft Services LLC — as drivers of new business, as they help provide fueling services, rentals, flight instruction and other services. Pacific Aircraft Services is the newest of the three, Paolini said, having moved in about a year ago.

Cascade Air, a fixed-base operator at the airport, sees a diverse customer base, said Hudson Frost, director of operations. The airport has become more welcoming and brought in more business in the last 2 1/2 years, Frost said.

Cascade Air hosts recreational passenger planes, as well as firefighting helicopters from the Washington state Department of Natural Resources and planes bringing in equipment for businesses, usually at the Port of Longview.

"We need these services to effectively help the community, especially in times of need, like during a fire or emergency," he said.

The operator also hosts instructional pilot trainings to serve the rest of their customer base: students, Frost said.

Part of balancing a sometimes "chaotic" number of services is having strong, reliable and skilled staff who "have each others' backs," Hudson said.

"I have really good people I don't need to micromanage," Frost said. "I have a lot of trust in my employees."

Recently, the Southwest Washington Regional Airport secured a $1.2 million state grant to help replace two underground fuel tanks that many say are outdated and against the modern standard of fuel supply at airports.

Frost said these tanks are not unsafe, but operators like Cascade Air will be able to provide more fuel if they upgrade the equipment; and more fuel means the ability to supply more airplanes.

Cascade Air's partnership with the Southwest Washington Regional Airport helps put the airport on the map for larger planes or business officials flying into the area who want to avoid the hectic traffic around Portland International Airport, Paolini said.

"When you have good partnerships, you actually see a quantitative improvement for facilities," he said.

More than 40 businesses use the regional airport on a regular basis for a variety of reasons, Paolini said. Businesses fly in cargo for the Lower Columbia ports, use it for charter flights or simply to avoid the heavy traffic at Portland International Airport.

For example, Foster Farms regularly flies in materials using the regional airport, he said.

"And when people fly in to have their aircraft worked on here, there are three local businesses generating local tax revenue for the community," Paolini said, referring to the three fixed-based operators stationed at SWRA.

The airport works in tandem with Cowlitz County, the Longview and Kelso city governments, and the Port of Longview. Paolini recently presented a $4.36 million budget to port commissioners, laying out potential federal and state grants that would boost infrastructure projects.

The fuel tank replacement is a yearslong priority, but the budget also includes plans to eventually extend the airport's runway by several hundred feet.

"Six hundred feet doesn't sound like a lot, but it makes a big difference," Frost said.

Improving the runway overall, like fixing bumps and evening the runway's surface, would likely make the regional airport more appealing to corporate planes, Frost said.

Pilot instruction is also a central part of how the airport addresses the lack of local resources for students who want to learn to fly planes, Paolini said.

The Kelso School District this September is spearheading a flight school at the Southwest Washington Regional Airport, where the selected 15 students will earn dual credit and fly planes with the help of an instructor.

"They will fly four flights in the hopes they will plan for the future, whether it's as a hobby or future careers," said Melissa Boudreau, Kelso School District's career and technical administrator.

Gluesenkamp Perez said regional airports help rural communities connect and become more accessible to the rest of the state. Having a flight school move into the Kelso-Longview area will also address barriers to those who cannot easily access flying lessons, she said.

"I can't get members of Congress to come out if they think they're going to sit in the car for two hours after flying to (Portland International Airport), so it is an asset for rural communities to get to, to be understood," she said.

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