August/September Business View Magazine

150 151 FALCON | CITATION | GULFSTREAM | LEARJET | HAWKER | CHALLENGER GLOBAL EXPRESS | EMBRAER | KING AIR | CONQUEST | PIAGGIO | OTHER weststaraviation.com ION CONNECT MAKE THE COMPLETE CAPABILITY MAINTENANCE AVIONICS PAINT & INTERIOR ACCESSORIES AOG & MRT FUEL & RAMP WINDOW REPAIR LANDING GEAR ENGINES Experience has long been a focus at West Star Aviation. Not only the experience of our people, but your experience as our valued customer. In fact, we believe that both are critical to delivering the highest quality aircraft services available today. We are committed to making our experience in Paint, Interior, Maintenance and Avionics services accessible to our customers at every level. This means easier access to detailed capabilities, facility information and most importantly — access to the right people, at the right location, right when you need them. We are building an open communication, no run-around approach that allows you to be confident in your decision to choose West Star Aviation at every level, and we’re just getting started. Make The CONNECTion with West Star’s complete capabilities by visiting www.weststaraviation.com today. GRAND JUNCTION REGIONAL AIRPORT runway, we’d have to close it for a year, which isn’t an option,” she admits. “The replacement will have the same geometry and be 600 feet north of the existing runway, meaning construction can run while operations continue.” There are, however, obstacles. “Right now, where that runway goes, we have hills,” she adds. “We have to move four million cubic yards of dirt be- fore we can begin building it. So, it’s a five- to ten- year project. It will be funded primarily through FAA AIT (Airport Improvement Program) grant funding. So, the speed in which we move forward will largely be driven by the speed and size of our grants from the FAA. Our ten percent match is something that we have available now. That way, we can say to them with accuracy, ‘as quickly as you can provide funding, we have our match.’” The plans for the new runway are also shaping the conversation about the Airport’s future as a whole – including its terminal. Padalecki explains, “We have an opportunity right now to say, ‘We’re building this new runway.We know where the most critical piece of infrastructure will be. So what makes sense for our terminal? Do we contin- ue to invest in this terminal? Do we develop plans to expand it? Is this the right spot? What about roads and access ways?’ So, we’re really looking at what makes sense for our terminal.” In the meantime, the executives and staff with- in the Airport continue to focus on daily travel. “Our tagline is ‘Daytime Travel Matters,’ Padalecki remarks. “We have the best on-time performance in any airport in the state, and almost the country. Our on-time performance is over 90 percent, and we almost never have any cancellations. So, our passengers can rely on us. And if there is a prob- lem, it will result in a delay - not a cancellation, we have a lot of folks with hangers here, who use us as their home airport. A lot of this traffic is driven through our MRO firm,West Star Aviation, who runs an excellent aircraft overhaul division.” Calling it a “massive opera- tion,” she attributes 500 of the airport’s over- all jobs to the firm. The company is currently undergoing expansion activities, increasing its footprint by 94,000 square feet. Mark Papko, Director of Operations, adds, “We have a diverse group of tenants, coupled with our military operations. Although we don’t house any military establishment on- site,West Star does have a military contract. So, it’s not uncommon for us to look on the ramp and see 17 or 18 F18s or 15 Blackhawk and Apache helicopters.We definitely get a diverse mix of everything landing from a G6 getting an overhaul to slurry bombers taking on fire mitigation operations, and military or commercial aircraft.” As the Airport’s business has grown to include a diverse portfolio of tenants, its infrastructure needs have, likewise, evolved. Its latest endeavor, a new airstrip, will require $130 million in funding and will help shape the future of the facility. “We have a project that kicked off this summer, a replacement runway,” Padalecki reports. “Our primary runway is 10,000 feet long and 150 feet wide and can land just about everything. But it was built in 1952, and is approaching the end of its useful life. So, we’re replacing it and build- ing a new one.” While the reasoning is simple, the efforts are far from it. “If we overhauled the current