Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 3

100 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 So that’s been an interesting ‘benefit’ for us.” General aviation services are provided by the airport team and the FBO, Hot Creek Aviation. These amenities include de-icing services, tie- down areas, fueling, as well as pilot lounges, a café, and some seasonal catering. MMH has one runway that is 7,000’ x 100’. According to Shultz, “At this time, the runway doesn’t need any upgrades, but we did have some recent capital projects on the go. We replaced our east general aviation ramp in 2021 with 211,000 sq. ft of new ramp. In 2020, we replaced some sections of our taxilane in front of hangars, as well as slurry-sealed our entire taxiway. So, the majority of our asphalt surfaces are taken care of at this point, with just some minor areas that we hope to take care of next year.” Hangar space is always in demand. That being said, all of MMH’s hangars are currently filled and the FBO helps maintain a waiting list of people wanting to lease hangars. The airport terminal building has been in existence for a number of years and plans are now in progress for some minor remodelling efforts. EV charging stations are also under consideration. For ground transportation, the airport has Enterprise rental cars onsite, as well as multiple taxi companies that are based in town but provide regular service to MMH. Hot Creek Aviation also provides a shuttle to bring people up the hill, if flights are diverted down to Bishop Airport because of inclement weather. Mammoth Yosemite Airport doesn’t have an actual flight school on the premises, however, since it has an elevation of 7,135 ft, a lot of high- elevation training does occur at the airfield from both federal and state agencies, including the military. Shultz notes, “We also have space on the ground for simulations and tactical training that groups come out here to do.” Maniaci elaborates, “With the military, we’ve had When COVID-19 arrived on the scene, airports everywhere were impacted and MMH was no exception. Patterson reports, “From a financial perspective, we budget conservatively because about 75 percent of our general fund budget is derived strictly from tourism occupancy tax. We’re very conservative in that number so we can control our operating expenses. Frankly, we were able to just turn off visitation in March 2020 for COVID, and still meet our budget numbers for the year and survive financially.” He adds, “What we did as a community was really try to block people out because there were so many people who still wanted to travel here to enjoy the outdoors. We have seen a tremendous resurgence during the latter stages of the pandemic, as people couldn’t wait to get away from being at home to visit probably the most beautiful place they know. Our tourism and visitation numbers have gone off the charts in the last few months and we’ve also seen a boost in people moving to the area to work remotely.