Four Corners Regional Airport

Expertly Landing Commercial Service With a View to Economic Development Taking off

This Dynamic Airport is Flying High Due to a Well-Thought-Out Master Plan and an Economic Roadmap to Get it to its Desired Destination

 

Although most people associate airports with travel destinations, meeting relatives and friends, or getting to a business meeting on time, behind the scenes, an airport plays a far greater role.

Beyond serving as a gateway to the region it is based in, airports often serve as catalysts to a region’s growth, fueling business retention and attraction while bringing in tourist dollars along the flight path.

Recognizing the direct economic impact that an airport can have, Michael Lewis, Airport Manager at Four Corners Regional Airport, has kept the project on course over the last few years, finalizing the reinstatement of commercial service for the airport.

He is also keenly focused on taking the steps necessary to ensure the eventual development of prime acreage near the airport. Lewis views these airport lands as an ideal location to attract both aviation-related and non-aeronautical businesses to set up shop at the dynamic regional airport.

Not stopping there, Lewis is also determined to market Four Corners Regional Airport as the gateway to an area that, in his words, is ‘an ideal retirement destination’-ripe with many things to do, a mild climate, and access to endless outdoor activities.

With these focused efforts, Lewis sees nothing but clear skies ahead and predicts that more people will choose to live in the Four Corners region, utilizing the airport for seamless travel to and from the area.

Landing a Full-Service Experience

One area that has taken up a good portion of Lewis’s time and resources has been his relentless pursuit of the reinstatement of a commercial service to Four Corners Regional Airport.

Although taking longer than he had originally planned for, the wait to launch the Sky West Airlines commercial service this spring has been met with impressive early passenger numbers that are set to rise even more. These early indicators have solidified the airport as a growing and dynamic regional player while ensuring that the city of Farmington and the area of Four Corners are also recognized as a desirable destination.

“It has been going very well. Our first flight out was on May 09th. By the end of the month, we had a 62% load factor, which is on the good side of what’s normal for a startup,” Lewis begins.

“Throughout June, we ended up with a 70% load factor, and by the very last week of June, it was an 81% load factor. So it just continues to climb.”

“The community has been starved for air service, which we lost in 2017. This was the last time we had a commercial service.”

Recognizing at the time that one of the top priorities for the airport was to do what is necessary to resume commercial service, Lewis explains that through his efforts starting in 2018, the airport had set a tentative date to start commercial service: October 15th, 2020.

Pandemic-induced slowdowns in national passenger demand and flight numbers did, however, put a temporary wrench in this initial timeline.

“I had been monitoring the number of people that were screened by the TSA every day in the US. TSA was screening between 2.2 and 2.7 million. However, by April 9th, 2020, they were screening only 87,000 people. That is how bad COVID was to the airline industry,” Lewis recalls.

The airline partner that was set to make its first flight that month, SkyWest Airlines, mutually agreed with the airport management that a wait-and-see approach would be beneficial to increase the odds of success.

Lewis had applied for a small Community Air Service Development Program grant through the FAA in 2020, and despite being awarded funding, he chose to hold off and launch commercial service under better market conditions, rather than attempting a service during the pandemic and then facing the distinct possibility of having to look for additional funding if things were to go south for the commercial launch.

“We waited and were in constant contact with Sky West, and finally, the opportunity within their operation showed itself. Sky West worked with United Airlines and got the okay to go ahead with starting service,” Lewis recounts.

“We got a call in November of 2024 and [Sky West Airlines] relayed that they wanted to start in the Spring of 2025, and we told them that we would be ready.”

“We hustled and got TSA in here, and they hired their people and brought in their equipment, and we put the whale thing together,” he adds.

Four Corners now has one daily flight to Denver.

“We were dealing with SkyWest, and the most receptive carrier was United, which has a hub in Denver. Denver is the largest hub of the four hubs we have access to at Four Corners. It is also the third largest hub in the United States, and United has 200 non-stop connections and 14 different foreign destinations out of Denver,” Lewis relays.

“We looked at it and thought that this would give us the opportunity to have one-stop service to Frankfurt, one-stop service to London, and one-stop service to 200 cities in the United States.”

Economic and Tourist Potential is Growing

Four Corners is an area that has always held a special place for some and is viewed as a tourist attraction in its own right.

“We have a lot of areas around here where there are fossils, and they have found some dinosaur remains here. There is also a phenomenal amount of ancient Native American archaeology, and this is a special fascination to Europeans,” Lewis describes.

“With the new commercial service, it just makes it a lot easier for them to get here,” he notes.

With an economic transition from an energy-based economy to more of a tourism or outdoor recreational destination, Lewis understands the vital link the airport plays in ensuring that businesses thrive and new business ventures see the value in setting up shop.

“The weather is pretty good year-round,” he points out. “We also have a lot of things here for people to do outside.”

Around the airport itself, there is also acreage that Lewis knows is a prime location for new businesses, both aviation-based and non-aeurontical.

“On the north side of the airport, we have about 120 acres of land that is not currently used and is the airport property, which is city land.”

“I have been working with the Four Corners Economic Development Group and our own City Economic Development Director on a joint project to look at the feasibility of putting an industrial park on the north side of the airport,” Lewis elaborates.

He highlights that there is enough room to put in various businesses or entities that would benefit from being near the airfield and that there is enough room behind the airport that could potentially bring in other commercial entities that would be able to take advantage of the proximity to the airport.

Lewis notes that jointly, the city and airport management have been analyzing the land’s utility capabilities, and the consensus is that water, sewer, power, and all that is needed to ensure businesses have what they need are in good supply.

As the City’s tourism efforts ramp up, Lewis has been actively trying to entice manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers of outdoor equipment to establish themselves in the area.

“We have the facilities that we could test and the equipment. We are not very far from alpine skiing and have some good-sized lakes as well as all kinds of bike trails. We also host the annual rock crawling event in one of our parks in the city.”

“We have the capability to work in some of those niche areas for attracting companies that are already part of the outdoor experience sector,” he outlines.

Lewis is also quick to add that “There is also always a niche for somebody who needs access to the airfield, whether it be an air freight, aircraft overhaul, manufacturing, or repair company.”

Workforce Needs and Navigating Ahead

With all that is going on at the airport and the direct economic spinoffs that this entails, Lewis has not lost sight of the continuing need to encourage young people to develop a keen career interest in the many areas of the aviation sector.

The workforce shortage within the aviation industry is real, and looking ahead, Lewis has seen a way to tap into local talent to try to take a regional bite out of the labor shortage.

“The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has understood that there is a massive shortage in all areas of aviation careers and has put together a four-year program for high schools. It is an aviation-related STEM program that they offer to schools for free.

“I was able to match our local school system with the AOPA team, and now in September, the high school will start an AOPA aviation STEM program.”

Not satisfied with just starting the program in the local schools, Lewis went a step further, and through a grant from the state of New Mexico, was able to buy a flight simulator for the STEM program, which has led to palpable excitement within the Farmington Public School system.

As to what other items on the agenda will take up the bulk of Lewis’s time over the next little while, he points to infrastructure work that is slated for 2026.

“Next year, as a matter of routine maintenance, we will be overhauling our main runway, and we have other ongoing work that isn’t necessarily directly related to our new airline coming in.”

With the pent-up demand for commercial service, international destinations now accessible through Denver for its residents, and a distinct economic development focus for the airport,

Lewis sees a clear flight path forward for Four Corners Regional Airport.

Lewis concludes, “I think I would like to let everybody know that this community is forward-thinking and does whatever they can do to provide opportunities for business to relocate here and for people to relocate here.”

AT A GLANCE

Who: Four Corners Regional Airport

What: A thriving regionally-based airport with the addition of a commercial service and a focus on economic development in and around the airport

Where: Farmington, New Mexico

Website: www.fmtn.org/airport