Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 1

177 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 They have done an outstanding job with every contract here at the airport. We also work with the Charleston Air Service Alliance, which is a working group looking at business travel, as well as government contracts. They certainly provide a forum for feedback on the needs of the area.” BVM: What do you envision for the airport over the next five years? Keller: “One of the huge growth areas is going to be eVTOL, short for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Essentially, these are battery- powered electric airplanes that take off like a helicopter and then fly like an airplane. We have been working with multiple companies to get the infrastructure in place here at CRW. This means having one or more aircraft chargers installed on the field. Marshall University is also working with some companies on doing pilot certification for eVTOL. “There is also talk of having Marshall open a battery research facility in Charleston, which would be off-airport but part of what we hope to achieve here – making this an anchor location for this new technology. If we had the infrastructure in place then this could be an area where manufacturing and research take off, which would be very exciting. In all of this, we are living out of our vision to become the most important economic engine of the state and I can see it coming true.” WEST V I RGINI A INTERNAT IONAL YEAGER A I RPORT