Soaring to new heights (Business Barometer)
by John Anderson @ Idaho Business Review
Imagine, if you can, Boise without a major air carrier airport.
Passengers would travel by private auto or bus. Goods would travel by truck, or the limited backhaul of rail. Micron, HP, and all of our high-tech businesses could not exist in Boise. Headquarters, including Boise Cascade, Albertsons, Washington Group, and the banking industry would not tolerate driving over six hours to Salt Lake City, the nearest air carrier airport. Imagine, if you can, a quaint little Boise city of about 15,000 people.
To guarantee that Boise Airport (BOI) remains a leader in providing aviation access, we are updating our Master Plan, looking at the short-run capital plan, and the long-run strategic plan to remain viable 50 years in the future.
Zoning off and on the airport and the proposed Lake Hazel extension to I-84 are being reviewed to make certain no new housing is placed near the airport, and that compatible industrial or commercial uses are encouraged.
We will also recommend that no new housing be allowed within 20,000 feet off the east end of our runways, and 15,000 to the west. This would extend about a half mile beyond the Micron campus and almost to Maple Grove. On airport property we will propose a new “airport zone,” similar to the university zoning around BSU.
On the capital side of Master Planning, we are working to add more readily developable land to our aviation inventory. With the development of new corporate aviation facilities by Micron and Appleton Air Sports, we have little land on which we could build a hangar on today. To increase our inventory, we are taking several steps:
• Relocate Orchard adding 60 acres, spring 2007.
• Extend the south parallel taxiway east beyond the Air National Guard, 2008, adding several hundred acres.
• Move National Guard Munitions Storage area, 2008-2011, adding about 60 acres.
• Construct new Air Traffic Control Tower (shifting target), allows development of our newest runway areas, adding about 1,000 developable acres for aviation uses.
• Open third runway for all users when new Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) is commissioned. FAA is now saying it will not be completed until 2013.
• Construct new taxiway connecting third runway with the main airport complex. Target to complete with ATCT completion.
By opening new lands for aviation development, opportunities for small and large employers will be created. As an example, the Idaho National Guard, Boise Airport’s largest tenant, has well in excess of 1,000 full-time employees on airport property.
Western Aircraft, situated on about 10 acres of airport property, employs from 120-140 full-time mechanics, specialists, and sales people. And Precision Propeller located on one acre of airport land has a very small workforce that provides a valuable service to the aviation community and a good living for the sole proprietor.
We have had multiple inquiries recently from businesses that could locate from dozens to hundreds of new aviation jobs on Boise Airport. Opening up new land for direct aviation development will likely bring new and decent-paying jobs to our economy.
From a 2004 survey of airport tenants, we found that there were well over 4,200 employees located on airport property with an annual payroll of $250 million. This makes the airport campus one of the largest employers in the Valley. New aviation development will likely push these numbers even higher.
Developing BOI as an air cargo center has been discussed for some time. Land will be available, and we can build our third runway to exceed the standards of any air cargo aircraft in the world. We are well situated for non-stop flights to Europe and Asia. Airports on the West Coast are overcrowded.
The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) is one of the major employers with direct aviation access to the airport. Indeed, they could not exist as they do today without our major air carrier airport. In the long run, we would like to make more land available to NIFC in our south runway area, relocating their existing campus, and perhaps expanding their facilities. This is a process that will take at least a decade or more to facilitate.
Then there is the passenger terminal complex, which absorbs much of our capital funding. In addition to the obvious need for a parking garage expansion, there will be needs to build a new concourse in the three- to eight-year time frame, and build new U.S. Customs and Border Control facilities in both the short and long term.
Even though BOI is completely self-supporting, the State of Idaho makes it very difficult for airports to borrow the money that is needed to complete these projects. Boise Airport has passed Airport Revenue Bond measures with over the two-thirds majority required in the 1960s and 1980s. We believe there is a significant education process required for voters to understand that there is no payment from local taxes, even in default, from Airport Revenue Bonds.
In addition to passing an Airport Revenue Bond with a two-thirds majority, alternatives could include the following:
• Change the Idaho Constitution.
• Define Airports as Ports, which are allowed to issue Revenue Bonds.
• Privatize individual projects.
Privatization may be a short-term fix for a parking garage expansion. While we may examine this more closely, privatizing passenger facilities, U.S. Customs facilities (which pay no rent), or runways is very unlikely to work. Over the long run, we need to find a way to leap from the 19th century to the 21st century in terms of Airport Revenue Bonding capabilities.
BOI is more than just a place for airline passengers to come and go. BOI is an economic juggernaut that allows Boise and the surrounding areas to prosper. As one of the largest employers in our area, the airport must be protected from incompatible development, and we must develop more land for direct aviation development, as well as continue to develop the passenger terminal complex. These developments will require a reliable access to the bond market.
Over the next 50 years of our long-term strategic plan, we believe that BOI has the potential to be, and in fact will be, the leading airport in the Pacific Northwest.
John Anderson is the director for the Boise Airport.
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