Thursday, May 01, 2014

Dallas Executive Airport (KRBD), Dallas, Texas

Editorial: Dallas Executive Airport’s good news has a hitch 
 
We should be celebrating the news coming out of Dallas Executive Airport right now. So why does it feel like these good developments come with a big asterisk?

After all, the airport is undergoing a $33 million renovation that will expand its main runway to 7,000 feet. Its tower is also getting an upgrade. The improvements will put Dallas Executive in position to land the sort of serious corporate jets that today go to Addison Airport and Collin County Regional Airport in McKinney.

The state, not the city, is paying for the runway work. Without the expansion, Dallas may as well have written off Dallas Executive as basically a place for hobby pilots to play with their toy planes.

That won’t be the case anymore. The old Red Bird Airport in far southern Dallas will soon have the infrastructure it needs to be a player among regional airports.

That’s big news. Just as big is the announcement that the airport was chosen as the headquarters of the Commemorative Air Force. The group maintains 164 World War II-era planes and will move at least five of those from Midland to Dallas Executive. It will invest in two hangars and an exhibit hall. The city is pitching in, naturally. Though the exact figure isn’t known, it will be north of $1 million.

The investment is well worth it. Dallas Executive needs an anchor like the CAF to begin to become a self-sustaining place.

So why the asterisk? City Hall has done a poor job of communicating plans for Dallas Executive with the surrounding communities. The city’s aviation director, Mark Duebner, has promised to correct this deficiency with quarterly meetings. That’s a good start.

The bigger problem is that the city of Dallas doesn’t seem to know exactly what it wants Executive Airport to be.

Council member Tennell Atkins, the airport’s biggest booster and formerly its master leaseholder, foresees a day when Executive becomes busier than Addison Airport, a major destination for corporate jets.

But Duebner’s goals are more tempered. In the short term, success is getting the airport to pay its own way. He acknowledged that the city needs to craft a plan for what long-term success looks like at Dallas Executive.

That effort will need a lot of community involvement. Dallas Executive is a potential asset for the entire city. Thanks to the renovated runways and the arrival of the CAF, it has never been in a better position to grow. But people who live around the airport must have a place at the table as its future is defined.


Source:   http://www.dallasnews.com