Business View Magazine | March 2020

171 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MARCH 2020 the needs are for that runway,” says Ploehn. “The FAA doesn’t like runways that intersect and they especially don’t like it when they’re at an angle, which is what our runway does. At the Billings Airport, we’re up on this rock plateau, so we don’t have a lot of level space. When they put that crosswind runway in, they had to raise up one end and fit it in the one place where they could actually get enough angle to make a difference on the landing approaches for the general aviation aircraft if the wind direction was out of whack from the regular northwestern flow. So, it goes through the two parallel runways at an angle and ends at the middle of the 10R/28L runway on one end, and the FAA does not like that. So, we’re looking at probably extending Runway 7/25 to get the end out of the parallel runway and then building a taxiway all the way around everything just to make it safer. It’s kind of a complicated little project given the terrain issues that will impact construction.” As Montana continues to become a more popular vacation locale, all of the area airports are seeing an uptick in tourist traffic. Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell, Helena, and Billings are all in the process of expanding their terminals to some degree. “We’ve actually seen some better tourism numbers,” Ploehn states. “American is a real good example. In the summertime, we’re basically pulling out of the south Texas area. The inbound plane, last summer, was running about 97-98 percent full. What we we’re seeing, though, was that the numbers going back to Dallas were about five percent less. So, we figured that some of those people coming to Billings were jumping in a rental car, seeing the area, then heading to Yellowstone Park by going over the Beartooth Pass and then flying home from one of the other Montana Airports. “The Beartooth Pass is just gorgeous, and takes you to the north entrance of Yellowstone Park through the Cooke City/Silvergate area. And if you’re coming from the flat lands, it’s a very exciting drive because it’s all switchbacks: 5,000-6,000 feet in elevation change going up General Aviation Avionics Experimental Aviation Avionics Pilot Supplies (406) 259-5006 www.aerotronics.com 1651 Aviation Place Billings Logan International Airport, Billings, MT 59105 B I LL INGS LOGAN INTERNAT IONAL A I RPORT to 11,000 feet. It’s a beautiful drive and we’ve been marketing the heck out of that. You can only drive it during the summer and fall, but when you go that route, you’re on the top of the world. There are some great turnouts where you can spend some time looking around at the spectacular views. So, I think the marketing of that drive has made some headway in promoting the area, especially as a great way to get to Yellowstone Park. Working with Visit Billings, the Billings Chamber and others, we are continuing to promote that wonderful drive.”