Business View Civil and Municipal l December 2022

46 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 “If the airports are to get more hangers, they will also get more federal reimbursement. It really is an economic development focus and represents a public safety focus as well.” The fires that hit New Mexico, Forte points out, illustrate that turnaround times at the regional airports throughout the state have also been inadequate. “ [It would have helped] if we had been able to have a much quicker turnaround to some of those fires.” He goes on to comment that “If we had turnarounds in certain airports, Roswell for example, we would have been able to have planes coming out of Roswell, with a much shorter turnaround accepted and it has the proper runway setup- it is not just economic development, it is public safety as well,” he summarizes. When asked what other airport improvements are considered to be top priorities in the state’s infrastructure bill, Allison Nichols, Policy Director with the New Mexico Municipal League says, “ It is mostly runways, taxiways, terminals, hangers as well as some maintenance issues.” Infrastructure ultimately drives economic development in the state, both Nichols and Forte argue. “We are unique,” Forte states. “ New Mexico is a very large state and we have some airports like Framington Galop that really need terminals. If they want rural air service, they have to have those terminals and they have to have ISA components to it. “With much smaller airports in the state we just need the hangers. The needs are different across the state. If you are in Las Cruces, you need another runway so you can accommodate the larger jets. Forte and Nichols both agree that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach in New Mexico, but rather a very specific approach that meets the individual needs of the community.