Aviation View | April 2021

60 AVIATION VIEW APRIL 2021 to be developing a lot of the unused property at the airport for both aeronautical and non- aeronautical purposes. “We want to do this to diversify our ability to maintain our self- sufficiency as an airport but also to maximize the use of some of our land that is not necessarily attached to the airport,” says Turner. “Some of it is across roads, which prohibits our use of it from an aeronautical standpoint, so it would be good to put it to use with something beneficial to the community and the airport as a whole.” “I guess we have evolved along the same path as most airports,” Turner concludes, “We had commercial air service at this airport for the vast majority of time since it was built, but we have also had our share of dips and peaks. The biggest change, I think, for us and a lot of airports in the upper Midwest, was the Northwest Airlines merger with Delta airlines, which saw a big shift in the number of flights. But when you lose one thing, you pick up something else and we just saw the recent reintroduction of service to Detroit by Delta. There is always something new happening here. That’s why I like doing what I do. It’s a dynamic work environment. I come to work and I may be addressing a bunch of invoices that have been short paid by a couple of pennies here or there, or it may be dealing with a security incident, or a VIP visit. It is always something different and exciting!” PREFERRED VENDOR n Mathy Construction Company www.mathy.com | info@mathy.com