Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 11

259 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 11 and signage, as well as acquiring new snow removal equipment. As with any regional airport, supporting the surrounding community is the key to success. And Lancaster Airport is no exception. One of its most popular highlights is hosting a Community Days weekend every two years. At this event spectators can see acrobatic performances and displays from the flight schools, and from vintage to new style aircraft. Unfortunately, this has been delayed one year due to COVID-19, but Foster expects it will up and soaring again soon. When it comes to collaborating with the community, many of the airfield tenants also get involved with local entities. Foster reports, “Our flight schools partner with the local colleges to do flight training programs. There are many FBOs on the field, and all of them engage with the community in their own distinct way.” The management team knows how important their operations are for economic development in the surrounding region and funneling business into the community. Foster acknowledges, “A lot of people don’t realize the economic impact an airport has on a local community, as businesses fly in and out, meeting offsite. These leaders of industry can be key strategic individuals who are making business deals in the city. And these top brass management individuals can employ anywhere between 10 to 500 employees.” During the pandemic, the airport followed strict CDC and the FAA regulations, but many of the staff members still had to come to work. As Foster notes, “It’s hard to run the airport from home…You can’t pump gas into an airplane, be a firefighter, or cut the grass from home. Everyone here is essential.” Over the next few years, management will be rolling out the previously established master plan for the airport. At the moment, the staff are taking stock of what assets and inventory they have at their disposal. In addition, there’s a LANCASTER A I RPORT push to ensure the team has more technology at their fingertips. An example of this is the new maintenance platform, which can track work and evaluate the quality of the work, as well as time, etc. This isn’t a simple process and Foster thinks they’re only half way done. In the next steps they’ll be looking to add buildings and equipment to the data platform, which would mean employees will be able to see trends and analyses of jobs completed – ultimately increasing efficiency. On the ‘green’ front, the airport is in the early stages of considering the addition of EV charging stations. And fortunately, due to the high cost, Foster can take advantage of his previous experience of acquiring federal funding. “The previous airport I worked at; we were able to tap into the VALE (Volunteer Air Low Emissions) type funding a few years ago. There is new technology available emerging with sustainable equipment we’re looking at purchasing in the future that would be hybrids or electric.” Moving into the future, Foster is focusing on a few areas of development. Firstly, on building additional corporate and t-hangars to accommodate more clients currently based on the airfield, as well as those who are looking to relocated to the airport. Secondly, is to expand air services with new routes, such as the Penn State flights. As Foster shares, “This air service expansion plan is critical and is being spearheaded by Southern Express Airlines, who have interline agreements with United Airlines, American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines. This means passengers flying from Lancaster Airport can go anywhere in the world right from their doorstep.”