Aviation View - Oct 2023

141 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 WACO REGIONAL AI RPORT where it crosses thence into Oklahoma. Along its route, it passes through the cities of San Antonio, Austin, and Waco before it splits in twain, forming auxiliary routes just north of Hillsboro. Further, also according to the TDOT, I-35’s eastbound route heads northeast. There it traverses through Dallas, and its westbound route turns northwest to run through Fort Worth. With such positive infrastructural characteristics, the airport is uniquely situated to be a boon economically for the entire region, as Mathis notes. “Waco Regional is the spot to be,” he remarks. The future and the past Looking ahead to the next decade, Mathis opines that getting some competition for Texas Aero would be a good thing. He adds that it’s not good to have one FBO seemingly monopolizing things at a regional airport, so such competition would be healthy for capitalism and good for business. As well, he adds, “It would be nice to get a piece of the cargo pie.” Yet there’s plenty of room to develop that at Waco Regional, as Mathis points out. He adds that Amazon, the famous retail giant, just opened a big warehouse facility right down the road from the airport, and the two would potentially be a great fit. “It would be fantastic to collaborate with Amazon and get some of their aircraft coming through here,” he observes. The biggest near-term interest is courting a second airline. Not only would this mean giving customers another option for travel, but it also would mean, again, that all-important concept so vital to a healthy business climate: competition. Mathis cites cost-benefit analyses. One of them concerns parking. Waco Regional offers free parking, and Mathis notes that this can be a major attractor for many fliers seeking to avoid the fees the jet set may find easier to swallow. “You might have to pay a parking bill, just to get out of that joint, for who knows how much,” he observes, citing Dallas-Fort Worth and other such international airports, adding that, “It’s a great selling point. Our parking lot stays pretty full.” Turning from the future and back to the past, Mathis discusses Waco Regional’s history. The facility goes back more than 80 years, and it began its life as a training center for what was then the U.S. Army Air Corps (now the Air Force) during World War II. Construction