We hope you like it.

Happy Holidays … and thank goodness it doesn’t look like we’ll have a white Christmas this year, from The Entire Addison Airport Staff

It’s always nice to know though, that unlike some other towns, Addison’s leaders understand the airport’s value, as well as the day-to-day issues faced at the facility.

Mayor Todd Meier said, “Addison is constantly vigilant when it comes to safety—safety for our pilots, for our tenants, and for the general public. The Town is committed to investing in the airport for the benefit of our tenants, the traveling public and especially our owners, the citizens of Addison. This award recognizes the hard work of the airport and town staff, as well as the contractors, all of whom went above and beyond to complete this important project safely, on-time and under budget.”

Considering the complexity of the work, the project was completed without a single runway incursion or surface incident. “This work was especially challenging because Addison is one of the region’s busiest general aviation airports,” Joel Jenkinson said. He’s Addison’s airport director. “We remained operational during most of the construction process, despite the tight schedule and a commitment to interfere with air traffic as little as possible.”

Because safety was the airport’s highest priority, Jenkinson explained “Contractor supervisors had to pass the airport’s Movement Area driver training program and an Airport Access course to make sure they understood how to operate safely in an active aviation environment.”

In addition to members of the Addison Airport staff, representatives of Garver Engineers and EAS Contracting also received the award. The project was 90-percent funded by the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program through a block grant to the TX-DOT Aviation Division. The airport provided 10-percent of the funds to the $11.6 million budget.

It was quite a bit of fun though because we used aerobatic pilot Jan Colmer’s Extra 300 for the official chopping of the ceremonial cloth. Most fun – at least for him – was that our own Mayor pro Tempore, Blake Clemens rode front seat on the Extra at 15 feet off the runway. I’d say he looks like he had a pretty good time. Why not spend about a minute and a half here to watch the fun last Monday.

ADS ribbon cutting (click to view the video). BTW, should we ring YOU the next time we need a volunteer passenger?

As we approach Monday’s ribbon cutting,  for many of the people who made this project work, we thought you might find a few facts and figures about the project interesting.

First though, a quick recap of why we needed to rebuild the runway. Two reasons come to mind. First, the pavement was approaching the end of its useful life. Much like aircraft, that means either fixing the problem or curtailing operations. We knew that a complete rebuild of the pavement would be the most effective solution.

A quote from Addison’s mayor pro tempore Blake Clemens explains the second reason we undertook this massive project. “The single most important economic driver in our town is Addison Airport.”

Plenty of Truck Traffic

Runway re-construction used more than 1,263 truckloads of asphalt, 22 miles of new electrical cable and 181 miles of paint. Crews also planted enough new grass to cover 35 professional football fields.

We all very much appreciate the patience everyone showed during the work. It wasn’t always easy to move airplanes around, nor to realize that you’d lost some of the flexibility of your aircraft because of our work. Now though, the airport’s “new” runway will be around to serve users, as well as the Town of Addison for many years to come. Next up in the spring is the taxiway Alpha rebuild.

Blake Clemens added, “Addison airport generates over $300 million in local economic impact, including more than 3,000 jobs.”

Those are great numbers for any business these days, but certainly for a business aviation airport.

Despite some truly awful weather that weekend, Addison Airport employees, as well as many of our tenant’s employees went that extra mile to make sure those of you arriving from all over the country had everything you needed.

But to us, good is never good enough. If you use Addison regularly, we hope you’ll spend just a few minutes on our new survey. It’s the best way we know to learn from you about what works and what doesn’t.

We promise it won’t take more than five minutes of your time. After the survey closes in a few weeks, we’ll share the results here on the Addison blog.

Thanks,

Darci Neuzil – Click here for our Transient Pilot Survey

Operations: The pavement condition of all 7,202 feet of Runway 15/33 led the ratings, scoring 4.2 overall on a five point scale (We’re hoping that climbs after the resurfacing). Differences among the demographic groups of a tenth or two support this rating. jet, turboprop, and helicopters, and those on the airport 6-10 and 16-plus years rated it better. Airport businesses and 1-5-year residents put it a tenth under the overall score. Every other category equaled the overall rating, and those who don’t operate an aircraft rated it 3.8.

There was similar acclaim for Addison’s groundside appearance, pavement markings, and runway/taxiway markings, which shared a 4.1 rating. Appearance rated at least four-tenths above the average with airport businesses, those who don’t operate an aircraft, and those who’ve been on the airport 1-5 years. Turboprops and 6-10-year residents came in at 3.7 and 3.6 respectively. There was very little variation among the demographic ratings for pavement markings and runway/taxiway signs.

Overall, the taxiway pavement scored 3.9, with the outliers being helicopters, at 3.6, and 6-10-year residents, at 4.2. Airport street and business signs also received an overall rating of 3.9. Turboprops were the only standout at 3.4, with everyone else on or a tenth better than average. Hangar/property improvements rounded out the operations category with an overall rating of 3.7. Again, turboprops were the outlier, a half-point below the average.

Services: Air traffic control and emergency incident response share the lead with a 4.2 overall rating. Variation among the demographic groups rarely exceeded a tenth, but there were a few standouts. Helicopters rated the emergency response a half-point lower and airport businesses rated it two-tenths higher. Turboprops rated ATC three-tenths lower and 6-10-year residents added two tenths.

Across the board, environmental services was within two tenths of its 3.8 overall rating. US Customs varied three-tenths high and lower from its overall rating of 4.0. What’s interesting is that business pilots and 11-15-year ADS operators were on the low side and jet and helicopter operators were on the high side, with turboprops a tenth lower at 4.2.

There was more variation with airfield security, which rounds out the service category with an overall 3.5. Piston operators and those on the airport 1-5 years rated it a tenth higher, but turboprops and helicopters issued the survey’s only just-below-average marks of 2.9 and 2.8 respectively. Several
respondents suggested that signs warning of and giving the right of way to aircraft would improve their situations.

Administration: Properties and leasing and tenant/business communication rated 3.7 and 3.9 respectively. While the former showed little demographic variation, the latter ranged from a high of 4.2 for those who didn’t operate an aircraft to 3.0 for helicopters. Account services/billing rated 4.0 overall, with 6-10-year operators and helicopters as the upper and lower three-tenth outliers.

Addison Airport’s administrative staff and the Kaboom Town Airshow shared the survey’s highest overall rating, 4.4. Business pilots, turboprops, and helicopters rated the airshow at 4.6. Airport businesses were a tenth under the airshow average, and those who didn’t operate an aircraft were a tenth behind them. Turboprops was the only variation greater than a tenth in the staff rating.

The staff continues to sort through the survey data and incorporate its results into airport plans and actions. Being better than average is not Addison’s destination but its journey, an ongoing effort it strives to maintain and improve in an environment of ceaseless change.

Technorati Tags: Addison Airport Operator Survey,Business Pilot,Pleasure Pilot,Airport
Businesses

The 17 services fell into three groups. Operations rated seven items such as the appearance of the airport, the conditions of its runway and taxiway pavement, and their markings and signs. Their overall scores ranged from 3.7 for Hangar/Property Improvements to 4.2 for the condition of the runway pavement,
with groundside appearance, pavement markings, and runway/taxiway signs a tenth behind at 4.1.

Services covered five items; air traffic control and emergency incident
response shared top billing with 4.2. Airfield security anchored the group at
3.5. In Administration, the airport staff and Kaboom Town Airshow shared the top
spot with a 4.4 rating, with property and leasing rounding out the group at 3.7
In subsequent posts we’ll share the ratings by demographic subdivisions, which
reveal their individual perceptions based on their airport tenure and
operational needs.

In all, 153 people participated in the survey, but we couldn’t count the
three who did not select how they related to the airport. Numbering 78, pleasure
pilots represent 52 percent of the total, followed by 31 airport businesses (31
percent) and 25 business pilots (17 percent). Twenty respondents identified
themselves more than one way: 9 were business & pleasure pilots, 5 were
airport businesses & pleasure pilots, 2 were business pilots & airport
businesses, and four were all three. In these cases we used the dominate
category, with business before pleasure.

Just about 35 percent (52) of all respondents have been on Addison Airport
for 1-5 years, with 33 percent (49) calling ADS home for 16 years or more.
Leading the newcomers are 24 pleasure pilots and 20 airport businesses. The
veterans are dominated by 23 pleasure pilots, followed by 15 airport businesses.
About 19 percent of respondents, lead by pleasure pilots, have been on the
airport 6-10 years, and 14 percent, again dominated by pleasure pilots, have
operated out of ADS for 11-15 years.

Of the 182 aircraft operated by the respondents, 112 of them are piston
powered, followed by 26 turboprops, 21 jets, 19 with “none,” and 4 helicopters.
Seventeen respondents operated more than one type, and in computing the data we
used the the type most different from piston powered aircraft. Three of the four
helicopter operators, for example, also operate pistons, jets, and turboprops.

Rather than an airport census, the demographic data provides background when
evaluating the data. Just as a pleasure pilot has different needs than one who
flies for business, a helicopter or jet has a different view of the airport than
piston or turboprop aircraft. We’ll look at those operational viewpoints in the
next post.

Addison Mayor Pro Tempore

Almost every airport manager in the US struggles at some point with the support of their sponsors, those people in local government who own and operate the local airport. Here in Addison though, we’re pretty lucky because we live with a local government that not only believes in the airport, but goes out of its way to look for ways to make Addison Airport more valuable every day.

Listen in as we chat with Addison’s Mayor pro Tempore, Blake Clemens about why KADS is valuable to the town. Clemens also shares both his and the Town’s  philosophy about how every city should run their own airport.

Last week, the contractors  completed the milling of 18 inches in the area that will be reconstructed.   The old runway lights have been removed in preparation for the new High Intensity Runway Lights (HIRL).

We will continue to provide updates as the work progresses.  Please contact airport administration if you have questions or need additional information.

Many business jets were also turned away at Love Field on Friday morning. Thanks to Addison Airport crews who worked almost all night Thursday, our airport’s runway was relatively clear of snow and ice as employees at the tower welcomed aircraft unable to land elsewhere.

(Addison welcomed visitors with team logos painted on opposite ends of the airport)

By lunch time Friday, Addison looked like a parking lot with business jets of all sizes and descriptions sitting everywhere. Of course, all three of the airport’s fixed base operators (FBOs), Million Air, Atlantic and Landmark were only too ready to help.

While the task of clearing the runways and taxiways is the airport’s responsibility, clearing the ramps and parking spots is left to the individual leaseholders like FBOs. Everyone pulled together during the chaos which meant dozens of transient aircraft almost never knew there was a problem anywhere along the line. All the FBOs used everyone – and everything – possible to clear the ramps for traffic.

Many of the cars that would have picked passengers up at Love simply jumped on the tollway and connected with their people at Addison. By game time Sunday, the airport and the Metroplex were beginning to return to normal. On Monday morning though, Addison faced a new challenge … how to safely funnel all the departures out of the airport and not overwhelm the Dallas area radar controllers, nor the people in our own tower which had remained open all night on Sunday to handle the additional load. By 9 AM, Addison began to look like Atlanta’s Hartsfield, or even Chicago O’Hare as one aircraft after another made its way south along the taxiway for takeoff. In all, Addison Tower worked dozens and dozens more aircraft than normal between the Monday before SuperBowl and the Monday just after.

So despite the horrendous weather, the weekend worked out pretty nice in the end … unless ofc ourse, you happened to be a Green Bay Packers fan.

Technorati Tags: SuperBowl,Addison Airport,ADS,Green Bay Packers,Pittsburgh Steelers,DFW,Love Field,Million Air,Atlantic,Landmark