Business View Magazine - Sept 2023

266 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 9 Further, as he points out, the Monroe City Council just approved a new ARFF (or aircraft rescue and firefighting) truck. These are massive vehicles that can make the difference between life and death in emergencies at airports. The airport’s current ARFF truck is 10 years old, and the Federal Aviation Administration agreed that this was a worthy project to pursue, as Butcher notes. Plus, the airport is getting a new sweeper truck. These big vehicles help runways look their best, and they’re critical to runway/taxiway maintenance. Butcher adds that updating those taxiways is also important, per the FAA. Like countless regional airports across North America, Monroe Regional was originally constructed during World War II, so bringing it more up-to-date is important. Money matters, as Butcher admits, and so these and other such projects are being The secondary runway just got a 1,300-foot extension last year, he adds. This means a further option for aircraft that need to land in inclement weather and that sort of thing. It also gives the airlines more options for landings during construction projects on the primary runway, as Butcher points out. “Now that’s not an issue,” he observes. On the primary runway, an overlay and crack- sealing project was recently completed. New painting is another additional feature. Plus, both runways now have new and longer- lasting LED (light-emitting diode) lights. “We’ve done a lot of improvements out there,” says Butcher, also citing re-doing the rotating beacon out on the runway, and being in the midst of efforts to get a new pilot-control lighting system.