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Frequently Asked QuestionsKALISPELL CITY AIRPORT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS The Kalispell City Airport Plan is not primarily designed to make a bigger airport. The City is trying to bring the Kalispell City Airport up to minimum FAA standards for safety and noise reduction. That means the City must realigning the runway, widening the runway, lengthening the runway, add safety zones at both ends of the runway and both sides of the runway, and add state of the art landing assistance equipment. All this is planned to increase safety and reduce noise primarily for the types of aircraft that are currently using the airport. This is referred to as our "fleet" or tenants. The Plan does not primarily seek to expand Kalispell City Airport's economic impact. Kalispell City Airport does not currently meet all the required for an FAA approved BI airport, yet the present activity and economic impact ($24 Million annually) of the Kalispell City Airport exceeds even a BII airport or larger. The City wants to, at least, try to meet the minimum standards required for an FAA approved BII airport using federal funds. If successful, hopefully the tremendous economic benefits will continue while safety and noise reduction are improved. The City cannot afford to do the upgrades on its own. Glacier Park International receives millions of dollars annually to upgrade and maintain its airport. Kalispell City Airport is not presently eligible for FAA funding and annual support. The City would like to be able to receive Airport Improvement Program funds that are generated from ticket taxes and fuel taxes throughout the industry. These funds are used to support airport improvements all over the United States. In order to receive those funds, the City must agree to bring Kalispell City Airport up to the minimum standards required of an FAA approved airports. The FAA will agree to provide up to $150,000 annually to maintain the upgrades the federal government funds. Kalispell City Airport is a general aviation airport which is part of Montana and the United States transportation system. Just as our state and interstate highway systems are used by all individuals, businesses, emergency vehicles, student drivers, military vehicles, travelers, and residents, so too are general aviation airports used by the same in smaller aircraft of every design and configuration. We don't stop every car or truck coming into Kalispell on Hwy 93 and charge a fee for the use of the roadway. Nor can we stop aircraft landing and taking off from Kalispell City Airport and charge them for the use of the runway. Our general aviation airports forms an important part of our state and nation's transportation system especially in a state as large and sparsely populated as Montana. Case -in -point, residents wanted to stop trucks from using U.S. 35 along Flathead Lake because they could be dangerous. The response from the State and Federal government was the same, they have every right to use the roadway as anyone else. Private jets do now land at Kalispell City Airport. Smaller, light weight private jets, such as the Cessna Citations I, which has a maximum gross weight under 12,500 pounds, occasionally land at the Kalispell City Airport. These jets are used by businesses and individuals. They are not commercial jetliners and they come and go without notice. No commercial jets land at Kalispell City Airport now and none will land there in the future. A commercial jetliner weighs somewhere in the vicinity of 160,000 pounds and usually requires a 7000 foot runway to land. Kalispell City Airport will never be able to accommodate such aircraft nor does the City ever want it to. Currently, 12,500 pounds is the maximum weight for an aircraft landing on Kalispell City Airport's runway. Lots of big, expensive private jets will not use Kalispell City Airport. First, aircraft landing at Kalispell City Airport must meet weight and speed requirements. Second, persons who own very expensive aircraft want amenities not offered at Kalispell City Airport. They require custom personal service, maintenance, hangar, and chauffer services not available at Kalispell City Airport (a small general aviation airport). These services are available at GPI's private ramp. The City is planning to do exactly what the airport's most vocal critics are demanding --improve safety and reduce noise. The City's plan for Kalispell City Airport's future improvement is designed to safely accommodate the air traffic it currently has --not to expand into a much bigger airport for bigger aircraft. This 80 year old airport needs to be upgraded and made safer and quieter. The FAA is willing to provide 95% of the cost of doing that, if the City follows through on its FAA -approved plan for improvements. Why doesn't the City Airport do a better job of controlling the aircraft that land at the airport? People seem to have the impression that the City Airport controls what type of aircraft take off and land at the airport every day. The airport is a non - towered airport and just as the City can not control what type of car drives on the streets of Kalispell or the State of Montana can not control what types of cars or trucks drive on the State highway, the Kalispell City Airport can not control what kind of aircraft lands or takes off from the City airport. What does control it, then you ask? This depends on the weight of the aircraft, the speed of the aircraft on approach, the wing span of the aircraft, and of course the length of the runway. All these are factors in getting the aircraft stopped in the distance available on the runway. There are a lot of different models of aircraft and helicopters that land at the airport each and every day of the year. Why do we need a bigger airport runway? The one we have now is just fine. It is the responsibility of the airport owner to design, build and maintain a safe airport that will accommodate the size of the fleet that uses the airport. That is what the FAA has told the City of Kalispell. We will help you build an airport that will safely accommodate the fleet of aircraft your airport is serving. Looking at the current fleet using the airport we need to build a new, safe runway at least 3750 feet long and 75' wide to accommodate 75% of the fleet we now have. The FAA prefers that we build a runway 4300' long and 75' wide to accommodate 95% of the fleet we now have. That would be much safer in the long run. But, the FAA will buy us the necessary land to accommodate 100% of the fleet we now have using the airport. We don't have to build it to 100%, which is 4700', but we need to control the lands for that length. No sane pilot will land an aircraft on a runway that it is not designed to accommodate. No large aircraft will use our upgraded airport because it will not be designed for it. Plain and Simple. We design for our fleet, the rest can use GPI where they have a big, long, wide runway. Pilots are some of the safest drivers on the planet.