Roswell Air Center

180 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 There is no flight school although Lanfor thinks it would be the ideal location with clear skies, non-congested airspace, and a long runway. Perhaps the military history of the area lends itself to this, but some 60% of the flights at Roswell are military. “We get a lot of touch- and-go traffic,” Lanfor explains, “with the big cargo C130s coming out of Albuquerque and the many flyovers with jet fighters going across the country. We’ve had harriers here that have stopped from Yuma, and Ospreys. The KC 135 squadron flies in a couple of times a year and so we really appreciate the military traffic. American Airlines operates two to three flights a day to Dallas depending on demand, and they usually do one flight a day to Phoenix. Roswell Air Center is in the process of creating a strategic plan - it has been recommended by the Advisory Committee, passed by City Council and they are in the process of creating an RFP for a strategic planner. The idea is to start evaluating assets and look at where the airport can be in the next five to ten years. Without waiting, however, they are working on terminal upgrades - fresh paint and new flooring, perhaps as well as a cafe and a bar. Within the next 18 months, they will also begin rehabilitation of runway 17/35. “Our local Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has been so very, very supportive as well,” Lanfor explains, “they are great at going out and marketing what we have available to bring other companies in. They also do a lot of work with our housing developments and other things to offer support to anyone. We also have a good working relationship with Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. They have an aviation maintenance program and they are able to work with the EDC as well to provide a workforce to the MROs or anybody coming in on the maintenance side of things.” “When looking to the next couple of years, I think we would like to focus on what we have, on creating a better foundation for companies to look at, so - on making sure that we get all of our upgrades done and then working alongside our current tenants to grow in a way that helps everyone.” Concludes Lanfor, “Roswell Air Center has been extremely busy during the pandemic with our large storage base here, but ROSWELL A I R CENTER