Aviation View | Volume 1, Issue 2

189 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 K I LLEEN-FORT HOOD REGIONAL A I RPORT steps. “I’m going out into the community within the region and meeting leaders and investors who want to support the goals of the airport,” says Roque Aguon, Airport Business Manager. “We want to monetize these partnerships and develop our plans together.” Airport management is actively engaging with 10 Chambers of Commerce in the Central Texas region on a weekly basis. Aguon was responsible for setting up an Air Service Development Task Force, and he has interacted with numerous companies already. He explains, “They are excited to know, not only do we have a plan to develop our air services, but that we also want to reach out to the community. Make them feel involved… that they are our civilian traffic and that their dollars spent at GRK are working.” Currently the entire Air Service Development Task Force team meets quarterly to discuss how they can reach across multiple sectors of industry from education to medical and the military. To achieve this, they are preparing to market to a new, larger target demographic across a wider area. “Our airport is within 60 miles of Austin Bergstrom International Airport, which is one of the fastest growing airports in the country,” says Wilson. “However, we’re actually closer to a number of northern suburbs (like Georgetown) in Austin than they are to Austin Bergstrom International Airport, which is in the Southern part of the city. These people could be saving time and gas money by flying through our airport.” It’s this leakage of potential passengers that has driven the team to earmark the need for more flights and expanding the airport. But with a team as driven as the one at Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport, it’s no doubt that things will just keep getting better.