National Guard Combat Readiness Training Centers in the U.S. A HUB OF CONNECTIVITY The airport’s role in the community is multifaceted. Delta Airlines, serviced by SkyWest, provides one to two commercial flights per day, complemented by daily cargo deliveries from UPS and FedEx. Huron Aviation Services operates a flight school on site, while also providing maintenance, and acting as a partner in operations.“It’s kind of a hybrid situation,” Airport Manager, Steve Smigelski, details. “The county of Alpena does the fueling, but Huron Aviation takes care of all the other aspects, like meeting and greeting jets and coordinating ground transportation and the like.” Alpena also accommodates a variety of military aircraft, due to its co-location with the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.“It acts as a military barebones base. So, all the essential equipment is already located in Alpena. All the unit has to do is bring its own people and its own specialized equipment. We see everything, Marine Corps helicopters, Navy helicopters. We even had F-35s here this year,” reports Smigelski. He notes that the facility regularly hosts high-profile military training events, including Operation Northern Strike, the largest air-to-ground exercise east of the Mississippi. Reflecting on the airport’s resurgence coming out of the pandemic, Smigelski shares,“Generally things are much better now than they were that first year after covid. We average about 13,000 enplanements per year, and for the last two months, we’ve been doing better than 1200 a month.” EMBRACING CHANGE AND INNOVATION One of the most notable upgrades at Alpena Airport is the construction of a new passenger terminal, completed three years ago. “The old passenger terminal was the flower of 1950s technology, which is to say it was quite hideous,” Smigelski quips.“There wasn’t even a passenger boarding bridge.There was a boarding ramp that would get pushed up to the aircraft, and if it was raining or snowing you got treated to the rain and snow as you were queuing up to go inside the airplane.” This modern facility brings a welcome host of improvements including an ADA-compliant design, a passenger boarding bridge, and expanded ramp space capable of handling larger aircraft like the Boeing 767. The terminal’s upgrades extend to security, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) introducing additional features to improve the travel experience.“TSA has really been working fantastically well with us. We weren’t scheduled to receive one of those 360-degree scanners, but they put one of those in when the terminal was completed,” explains Smigelski. 3 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 10 ALPENA COUNTY REGIONAL AIRPORT
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