Aviation View April 2023

97 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 LONGS DRUGS (CVS HAWAI I ) Business ViewMagazine: How about parking? What is the parking situation for people coming into the airport? Wallace Begay: We have some public parking on the outside of the perimeter fencing, where people that don’t have access to the airport can park. Most of the time, pilots pull their planes out, park their vehicles inside their hangar, and then leave. In other cases, the landing pilots might pick someone to take them for treatment, so they will land, drive down to the hospital, pick up the individual, and fly out. These kinds of instances make up what happens at the airport throughout the year, so there is no great need for lots of dedicated parking. Business ViewMagazine: Could you mention any key suppliers, vendors, contractors, partnerships, or any entity that you feel is vital to the day-to-day operations of the airport? Wallace Begay: One of the key providers that help us manage the airport is our consultant, Bohannan Huston, who ensures the airport complies with all aviation requirements.Another essential vendor for the airport is Aviation Pros, which supplies the airport with various items like windsocks. Our electrical department is also crucial to the airport’s operations, as they are responsible for ensuring all lights work, including the beacon light, bulbs, and other lighting fixtures. We also work closely with San Juan Regional Medical Center, which uses the airport to pick up and drop off patients requiring treatment in Albuquerque or elsewhere. Besides the support we provide for other aviation use cases in the area, we have a great partnership with them. We run a volunteer fire department, which has put out one or two fires in the recent past. In general, we don’t keep any workforce in the airport, with most coming up here on a need-only basis.