Business View Magazine | December 2019

197 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 with nearby general aviation airports,” Brewer admits. “But what we have that these other GA airports don’t is our being owned and operated by the City of Philadelphia and being able to utilize resources of Philadelphia International Airport.” Philadelphia International serves 31.7 million passengers annually and is one of the largest economic engines in the region, generating $15.4 billion and accounting for 96,300 full-time jobs. “Northeast Philadelphia is not completely self-sufficient,” Brewer explains. “The deficit is made up by the airlines and their agreement with Philadelphia International. They pay that deficit every year. Our operating budget is minimal, but we get a lot of support from Philadelphia International as needed.” That financial assistance, alongside funds granted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the state of Pennsylvania, has supported several projects and upgrades undertaken by Northeast Philadelphia to improve service and reliability, including a full-depth restoration of its 7,000- foot runway, Runway 6/24. “We’re just now ready to reopen it,” Brewer reports. “We’re finishing Package 1 of three packages. Package 1 was a full rehabilitation on the first 2,000 feet of the runway, starting at the 24 end. Package 2 will be the next 2,000 feet and Package 3 will be the final 3,000. It’s also being narrowed by 50 feet. When the military was building airports years ago, they typically did 5,000-foot-long, 150-foot-wide runways. Given our operations at Northeast Airport, we don’t need a 150-foot wide runway. With the money that we’re getting, it’s all going to be said and done over three years - about a $32 million project. Last year, we upgraded all 126 signs on the airfield,” adds Brewer. “They’re all now LumiCurve LED signs. That was a $1.2 million project. We, ourselves, through our operating budget, are replacing all the taxiway edge lights with LED lights. We’re about 95 percent done with that.” Two years ago, as part of another federal contract, the Northeast Philadelphia Airport also NORTHEAST PHI LADELPHI A A I RPORT Airport Manager, John Brewer Electrician at work