Aviation View | Volume 1, Issue 2

151 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 interested.” He adds, “There are so many interesting businesses on the field and you always see something new. For example, there is a company called International Aerospace Coatings, or IAC, who paint large aircraft from all over the world. Just the other day a military 747 flew in and it is always fun to see what they are doing.” Meacham Airport itself has five maintenance employees, six operations staff and a couple of people working in management, along with another dozen or so people who work within the aviation department for the city of Forth Worth. The airport team maintains close ties to the economic development department and the Chamber of Commerce for the city as well and it all seems to be a well-running system. “If it has anything to do with aviation,” Barth says, “they are usually reaching out to us for collaboration.” This past year was an interesting one for the airport. Barth elaborates, “With COVID things took a very wild turn in March of 2020 and through the spring and summer it was very different here. But by the end of last summer things had started to turn around. In talking with the FBOs and other businesses they agree that this was the turning point. Certainly, we had so much less international and customs business during the pandemic but as far as flight operations and fuel, the fall saw us getting back to pre-Covid numbers. The first quarter of this year, 2021, we’ve seen these numbers become very strong. March is always a strong month for international customs flights because of spring break and I am happy to say that March of this year was the largest number that we saw of customs flights coming into Meacham Airport.” Speaking to where the past meets the future, Barth shares, “If you were to do the math and look back at Meacham’s history, you’d see that A unique working museum where visitors are able to see what it takes to “Keep ‘em Flying”! 505 NW 38th Street Hangar 33S Fort Worth, Texas 76106 817-624-1935 www.vintageflyingmuseum.org info@vintageflyingmuseum.org We strive to help our historic aircraft fly – and then keep them flying. MEACHAM INTERNAT IONAL A I RPORT