Business View Magazine | February 2020

97 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020 THE MESQUI TE METRO A I RPORT Mesquite purchased the Airport using grant money from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “There were only a few hangars out here, but the City saw that there was a good amount of potential in it, so they decided to bring it under the municipality,” says General Manager, Eric Pratt. In 1985, additional federal grants allowed the City to enlarge the runway to 5,000 by 100 feet, extend the parallel taxiway, and acquire more airport property. In 1992, the runway underwent refurbishment and expanded to 5,999 feet, and the City officially opened the Airport’s FBO. In 2013, the Airport added an 80-foot-tall air traffic control tower at the cost of $2.8 million and permanently staffed it with FAA contractual air traffic controllers. The Airport itself has 11 employees: five full-time and six part-time. As of this year, the Airport is fully self-sufficient. Current aircraft based at the Airport include six jets, one helicopter, and 21 multi-engine planes