Cooper/Kalispell City AirportHello,
My name is Charlie Cooper and I'm currently an employee at Red Eagle
Aviation. I understand the current debate over the city airport here in
Kalispell and would like for you to understand my point of view.
I grew up in Polson, MT and came to find myself living Kalispell trying
to make a career flying helicopters. I started flight training with Red
Eagle in the winter of 2007, and have currently been working there since
the summer of 2008. Through my experiences at Red Eagle Aviation as
flight student, and an employee; I have found that the Kalispell City
Airport is one of the most friendly airports around. Not many of these
smaller airports offer the services that we do; some of which include a
rather nice courtesy car, fuel truck, heated hangers for overnight
stays, and not to mention the Hotels and nice restaurants within walking
distance. Through my short employment as a line serviceman, I found that
the majority of the pilots coming from out of town come to the city
airport for those exact reasons plus a couple more which would include
the fact that the kalispell city airport is close to downtown kalispell
and some pilots dont like the tight security or the control tower at
Glacier Park International. Not only would the closure of the city
airport effect the business on the field, it would also effect Scottys,
Rousaurs, Mackenzie River Pizza, Julies Cafe (we tend to send a lot of
people there for breakfast), Budget Rental, The Hilton, Aero Inn, Motel
6, and TONS of other small businesses in the southern part of Kalispell.
During these economic times, Wouldn't the City of Kalispell like to see
money brought into the city, and not sent out towards Glacier Park
International?
The expansion and re-alignment of the runway at Kalispell City Airport
would be a major improvement. Not only would the realignment of the
runway help bring the air traffic away from the city center, it would
keep the helicopter traffic away from the waste water treatment plant as
well as giving additional space between the runway and the businesses
along hwy 93. The length of the runway would also be a major
improvement, having a longer runway could bring the opportunity of
larger aircraft (not commercial jets) into the southern part of
Kalispell. These larger aircraft could bring up to 8-10 people with each
plane; which in turn would bring that much more money into the southern
part of Kalispell. There is this particular instance where this exact
case happened my first summer working at Red Eagle. This pilot flew a
king air (medium twin engine airplane) into the city airport by himself,
He had to drop off his passengers at Glacier International due to the
company policy which stated he could not land with that much weight onto
a runway that short. This pilot wanted to keep the plane at the city
airport because he would be staying at the Hilton and wanted to keep an
eye on the plane while the family went on a vacationing trip. When the
family wanted to leave, he had to meet the family at Glacier
International because our runway would not allow him to take off with
the weight he had on board. I told this gentlemen about the possible
expansion of the runway and he couldn't understand why it hadn't
happened yet. He said with that extra length that the new runway would
have, it would have been a length at which the company policy would have
allowed him to land and take off at the city airport with the family. I
hope I explained this story well enough. After I talked with this pilot
for awhile, I asked myself "how many times a month does this situation
come up." With the economy the way it is, with businesses suffering, I
believe the expansion alone will help bring revenue to the city of
Kalispell.
As for the noise, and the group called "quiet skies." I believe that the
realignment and length of the new runway would help exponentially. Not
only would the length help planes take off well beyond the city, it
would change the traffic pattern so the planes and helicopters would not
be over any residential part of the city. At Red Eagle Aviation we have
tried our best to try to make the skies quieter, we have changed our
practice areas, changed our routes to get away from the city, changed
our training days at the city airport, and we have also tried to use
the international airport as much as possible. Red Eagle Aviation is not
directly responsible for the "noise problem", there are many other
planes and people that take off and land at the city airport. Some of
which are necessary like alpine air, ups, and fed-ex have used our
runway when the international airport was closed. Along with these other
companies, its always nice to see that ALERT comes once in awhile to use
the runway to practice procedures.
Not only would the expansion and realignment of the runway help make the
airport safer for both the aircraft and the residents of Kalispell, it
would also offer more revenue for the city of Kalispell as well as being
a good alternative just in case Glacier International is not available.
Thank you for your time, and I hope this helps with your decision for
the future of the Kalispell City Airport.
Charlie Cooper
Flight Instructor - Red Eagle Aviation