On business aviation and a bit of rethinking ...
If one were looking to identify the airport director who has had the most challenging time of the past five years, seeing Randy Walker’s name on a list of contenders wouldn’t be a surprise.
Walker heads up the Clark County (NV) airport system, anchored by McCarran International in Las Vegas. Faced a few years ago with handling an ongoing surge in tourists with strained capacity, officials in Vegas today are managing through the economic downturn while maintaining their capital development program. On page 26, Walker shares his thoughts on the economic and planning roller coaster ride his authority has had in recent times. One comment: “It’s much more difficult to manage in these times as it is in the good times.”
During the interview the discussion turned to business aviation and the potential for NBAA hosting its annual convention once again in Vegas. Walker has overseen the development of relievers Henderson and North County to encourage general aviation away from McCarran and its daily barrage of air carrier traffic. The NBAA Static Display just complicates the issue.
Walker would like to lease a tract of land at Henderson to the association, and have Vegas be one of several cities on the NBAA circuit.
Has the collapse of the economy in southern Nevada changed his views toward NBAA and business aviation? “Our overall goal has not changed,” he says, “maybe the urgency of the goal has changed. I think everybody anticipates that aviation is going to grow in this country, just not as soon as projected. So, we’re going to be back to where it’s a challenge.
“We have the same attitude as we had before. We would love to have them at Henderson. The last time we had NBAA [at McCarran] we had a problem; we had fewer flights than we have today, even with the reduction. So, nothing’s changed.
“I think it’s a great convention and would be great for the community. But we can’t negatively impact our core business, which is bringing in those flights every day.
“We have a spot out at Henderson that would work great for them, I think. We’ll work with them all that we can. We would love to have a situation here where they could put us on a permanent rotation. They have been coming in with their regional conferences, and those work well at Henderson.”
Meanwhile, says Walker, a focus will continue on further improvements at the GA relievers.
While NBAA 2009 offered a shock to the industry and surely the association’s coffers, it appears the bizav segment has bottomed out.
People frequently ask about the future of the convention and the Static Display. Ultimately, Randy Walker may be onto something. Three (or?) cities, agreements with three airports, hosting NBAA on a rotating basis. It may sound ‘out of the box’ but in time it may be the answer to the question.
Thanks for reading.
