Airports Update July 2022_mixdown.mp3

Airports Update July 2022_mixdown.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Airports Update July 2022_mixdown.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Katie:
Welcome to a City of Redding podcast. In this episode, we check back in with airports manager Jim Wadleigh on big changes that are coming to the Redding Airport and some exciting things that are happening right now.

Steve:
Some of the biggest news is the Redding Municipal Airport has recently been renamed the Redding Regional Airport. Jim talks about why this change is important and how he hopes this will further the growth of our local air services.

Katie:
Also on the horizon are a few big construction projects, most notably the Redding Runway Rehabilitation Project, which will fix our aging infrastructure and ensure the airport can operate smoothly for years to come.

Steve:
We also ask some big questions about the status of the new Denver, flight terminal upgrade, the health of our current air service offerings, and a T heory coffee cafe hitting the holding room soon.

Jim:
My name is Jim Wadleigh. I'm the airport's manager for the city of Redding. I've been with the city Redding three years and I oversee the Redding Regional Airport and the Benton Field.

Katie:
Thanks, Jim. And there is a lot of exciting things happening at the airport nowadays. It seems like we say that every time we talk to you, but every time we talk to you, there are more exciting things to happen. So I think one of the most recent things that happened that's new and exciting the community may not know about is the airport name change. Maybe you can walk us through what that's about.

Jim:
Yeah. So really excited to be able to have gone to council and bring forward a recommendation. It was a long desired recommendation from my predecessors and a lot of community partners, and that was to rename the Redding Municipal Airport into more of a regional name. And we were in the middle of an airport strategic plan. I mean, due to the growth during COVID, we decided to do a strategic plan. And part of that was to look at a name change with a committee. And the popular recommendation that came up was just to kind of keep it simple. And we we came up with Redding Regional Airport and we brought that forward to council on the 21st of June, and council unanimously supported that. So that was really exciting because that's something that we've all wanted to do because it would reflect what this airport truly serves is more of a region, not just our local community. Three letter identifier RDD is going to remain, but with this name change, we really wanted it to help those that don't normally know a lot about their local airport or at least their airport, and they're in their region to to learn a little bit more about what we do and what we offer as our air service has grown in the last year. And this rebrand, if you will, was more of something that we wanted to kind of embrace a positive change that's happening and give this airport a fresh look, a fresh perspective. And then we would use that in marketing of this airport just to kind of make sure our community and region know all of the services that are available. So there's a lot of pieces to it, but this was one essential piece that we thought was really important. And that's that's our name.

Steve:
And Jim, with regard to the name change, do you anticipate it to be a boon for travelers who might see the name Redding Regional Airport as maybe more reputable or more legitimate than a municipal airport? And for securing new flights to airlines look more favorably on regional airports over municipal airports.

Jim:
Oh, absolutely. I think it does have an influence. I do believe that. I believe that from the perspective of the airlines looking at us and also the community and like you said, to feel a little bit more legitimate. I mean, we are growing and we are with more services are available here. We have three airlines and there's there's more interest out there. And I do believe that this is going to have a very good influence and perspective, a positive one for our region. And our target was was definitely the north state. We were going to aspire to be the airport of choice for the North State. And to do that, we had to start with a rebrand. And and having regional in the title is really important. So the airlines do they do see what we do and they see the interest that council is making and they want to be part of those changes. They want to be they like to see those. So I know it's going to raise eyebrows as we continue to talk to the airlines, as we normally do. And and it's going to it's going to garner attention, Jim.

Steve:
What type of taxpayer costs come with a rebrand and a rename? And how do you envision those costs being offset by, as we mentioned, the perspective additional growth that the airport will see as a result of being a regional airport now?

Jim:
Well, I think that's a really good question. The airport has what's called an enterprise fund where we're just like Redding Electric Utility. We have a standalone fund and it's paid through user fees like hangars and tie downs and leases. And we are recipients of grants. And there's going to be times where the Airport Enterprise Fund cannot cover, say, a project or something operationally, and we'll need some sort of assistance from the general fund or some other source. And a lot of times those will be paid back as a loan with interest. And you know, and then those other times that council will make a decision on, hey, we want to do this. And, you know, the airport will say this- Like, for example, the airport strategic plan that was 225,000 that was paid for by the general fund. But that was to the the objective for the airport strategic plan was to gives the airport manager kind of marching orders, hey, this is what the city wants with their airport. Airport manager, go get it. So that's that's what I mean. We had a lot of growth in a short amount of time when other airports were losing service.

Jim:
We were booming and growing and we needed to make some pretty big decisions. And these are decisions that shouldn't fall on an airport manager shoulders. They are higher up. These are big decisions. So things like that, when council will get involved and help kind of put a plan together, those will be funded with taxpayers. But as far as like this rebrand, this will be covered in our airport enterprise fund. We have a couple of logos downstairs that are etched glass by the screening area and then also the turnstile where the exit lane. So between that and maybe some sunscreen and that's up in the top second floor windows and even our entrance sign those the costs are really minimal. Some of them were due for replacement anyway. They're very UV faded. And so the costs are mainly administrative costs, but then the replacement of those, those little fixtures. So we're not doing a big monument out front. I mean, I think something like that would be for for down the road. But just to do these signs, I think we're looking at anywhere between five and 10,000 overall, but that would be covered by the Airport Enterprise Fund.

Katie:
And Jim, so you touched on airport growth and that the airport has been growing pretty rapidly and I think that's super exciting for our community. At one point we had talked about a potential of a Denver addition. Maybe you can give us an update on where we are with that and then any other potential growth that's on the horizon.

Jim:
Of course. So there's always interest with other airlines. The airlines don't like it when we talk about some of the things that are kind of a think of it as a negotiation, kind of a stage, it's not locked in yet, but there's a lot of interest and we do have ongoing dialogue and we even in fact, have airline headquarter meetings and airlines don't always take headquarter meetings. So for them to even be interested in meeting with us is a very good sign. And they'll let us know information about potentially when we could do it. And we don't have the aircraft, we don't have the pilots, that kind of stuff or the gates. They they'll sometimes let us know that information. But we do have a revenue guarantee for that Denver service and that specifically it's for United Airlines to fly from RDD to Denver and back. That would be a daily flight. And we are target aircraft would have been CRJ 700, which is 70 seats. And as United is rolling out some newer aircraft, I could see us having what's an MBA 175 and it's it's 76 seats and it also will have a first class think of that aircraft as like a mini 737 and that would be an aircraft that we would see regularly here. You know, ultimately, I think at first CRJ 700. But the issue right now is the pilot shortage. It is a real thing. During COVID, obviously, the flight training was stalled or even paused because you couldn't be in close contact with people.

Jim:
So a lot of programs did suffer. But the other thing that was difficult for the airlines is the military didn't produce pilots like they used to. So between those two things, there's kind of this gap that's kind of not being filled and flight schools are back in operation, but we're not there yet. And it's probably going to continue like this for maybe another year before it gets better. But we think in about a year we'll probably find out in another six months and you know, an update with United. But we think probably next year or so we will have the Denver service. But this all depends on the pilots. We have not lost any service here. And that's a very good thing because our market is very strong. But to get any new service, it takes a different level of commitment. And we're United's not ready yet, but we know when they're ready. Redding is going to be ready. So I'm really looking forward to that new service because it will be eastbound and it'll have an immense amount of connections, I think about 171 that will be worldwide and it's really a reliable airport and it's eastbound and it'll save you time. So if you're going eastbound, it's already going eastbound. So that would be one of my main wishes if I had a magic wand would be Denver service. And for that to happen, it's it's going to be quite a ride when that does happen.

Steve:
And Jim, you touched on a little bit the the growth of the airport and the airline service and the health of it. Are there certain thresholds that we as the Redding Airports Division have to meet to retain those flights? And are there certain revenue guarantees for some airlines for a certain amount of time, but are there certain thresholds that were required to continue to meet? And also is the health of the current flights we do have pretty good right now with regard to passengers flying?

Jim:
And that's a very good question because when I came into the writing airport system here, I did not have air service development background. So that was always a puzzle that I was trying to crack and trying to understand. And it is a very difficult one because the airlines, they play around with fees all the time. They're trying we want them profitable because they will remain if they're profitable. But there's a balance. You know, writing market is sensitive to the airfare and that's why we historically have had a lot of leakage to other airports like Sacramento. But that's changing because of the number of airlines that we have now really does help with that competition factor. But a lot of times it will boost services, even other services, like, for example, Avelo Airlines, when they came in May of 2021 last year, we were thinking, man, the Burbank flight, it's going to pull from our L.A. market. Well, it actually boosted it. And I mean, our numbers are actually incredible. And then when when Alaska started to Seattle, I mean, the same thing, it actually brought airfare down to the point where United was even cheaper than Alaska and Alaska is considered low airfare. And so that was a really good result, bringing in more air service. But it varies depending on the range. San Francisco, I mean, I've been asked before like why San Francisco it's it has potential for delays or cancellations and it's because that flight is very short and it has a lot less operating costs.

Jim:
And also San Francisco has a pretty good amount of connections. I mean, 115 compared to, say, LAX, which is 65. And these were pre-COVID numbers that I'm mentioning. I haven't looked at it, but they're roughly going to be about the same. And, you know, like LA is definitely further out and Denver is actually pretty far. If you look at it on a map, it's actually pretty far stage length. So you want to fill the seats as much as possible to help kind of cover the cost because the pilots, the maintenance involved with that does increase the further out you go. So the load factor is the airlines will put it is very important, but it also, you know, you can have a high load factor, but maybe they had lower fares. So it's all a balance because a lot of times people will buy tickets well in advance and maybe that flight will be booked out for the summer. But then you'll see gas prices raise and now the airlines eating costs and they're not profiting. So it's a very difficult balance for the airline. And we need to do everything we can to help kind of make it a profitable venture for them because we need them here. But it definitely depends on a number of factors sometimes outside our control, like whether at other airports or here. And it's difficult for the airline, but we are doing very well here. Presently, most of our flights are full, like the Alaska flights. You might have seen some open seats before.

Jim:
Now they're almost all taken up, very good signs. And, you know, same with United. They're doing very good. The Las Vegas flight is routinely pretty full. That's on other than daily service right now as Monday and Friday, Burbank is is routinely pretty full. So these are all very good indicators. And I just think that the as far as the balance on load factor versus pricing, it will change seasonally and there's different cost impacts seasonally too. I think the airlines at Redding have it figured out and I think with more folks flying local that it makes it that much easier for the airline to have some sort of absorption when there is an increase in a fee like fuel prices. So that I'm just I'm really happy. And some of the airlines that I've talked to, the station managers that I've talked to here, they're very happy with what they see. And we're pretty blessed with the fact that more of our community is choosing to fly Redding. I mean, it's making a difference because we will always have air service so long as people use it. And trust me, people are using it. Our air service has actually doubled our 2019 numbers, which 2019 was a great year for us. So we're at a point where we're still growing and we are still seeing some impacts with inflation and things like that. But our market seems to be a little bit resistant to it. And and that's that's a good sign.

Steve:
Jim, you touched on it a little bit with regards to the San Francisco flight and potential for cancellations or rescheduling if things get bumped. I think historically some folks in the community have either experienced it firsthand or heard rumors that that San Francisco flight might get canceled from time to time. So it's not worth it for you to fly. I mean, what do you say to those folks? And I guess on that note, what are the current reliability numbers for the flights we do have today?

Jim:
These days, it's actually rare that we have any sort of delay or cancellation. It's actually a good thing. And I think a lot of that has to do with other airports have not returned to pre-COVID or pre-pandemic levels. I'm still shocked at that because I'm looking at Redding and I'm thinking, man, we're above and beyond what our numbers used to be. And then other markets are not even close. So I think there's a lot less flights, which makes it because it has to do with capacity like San Francisco. When there's fog, they have a parallel they have parallel runways. But when the visibility is too low, they have to go to one runway and they don't have the runway separation that allows simultaneous operations. So it becomes a very big capacity issue. Well, we haven't seen that since before the pandemic. It really hasn't come up. There are flow restrictions, for example, which means when the when the flight is scheduled, they want to stay on schedule because they have a window to get in and they have a gate and that they need to get there. But we haven't seen some of those delays before. But anybody that has complained about it, I get it. I know that that impact has existed. When I would do like Rotary presentations and things, I would do a poll and I'd say, Hey, how many people have flown out of Redding? Hands go up, how many people have flown through SFO hands go up.

Jim:
Then I would ask them, okay, how many delayed? How many canceled? You'd be surprised to see how many hands. And so I know that that has existed out there. And but having that Los Angeles service was a very good move. That was a $1 million revenue guarantee that this community put up without a grant to provide that financial backing to start a new service for United. And what that was supposed to do was mature the flight and it did what it was supposed to do. That flight used up almost every penny. There was some money left over, I think 79, 79,000. But it matured that flight. And we knew this because we were having very high load factors. It didn't take away from the SFO market. It actually boosted it a one and a half percent. And we knew we were going to get a second LAX flight in May and this is a may of 2020. We knew this in March of that year and that was right before the pandemic hit. So that was a very big turning point, having another destination and now that we have other alternative alternatives is as far as flying or other airlines.

Jim:
And that adds value to folks because if they need to still move around, they don't have to jump into a rental car or head down to Sacramento and then take a flight. They can actually redirect through, say, LAX, Fly, or maybe they can jump on to Seattle and then connect through there. And I've seen that happen not often because it doesn't happen that often, but if there is somebody that needs to move around, there are other ways to do it. And that's why I think it's so important to continue to grow our air service so that those options are there. I have personally been delayed or canceled through other airports and to be able to say, well, this one, you missed it, but we can get you through this route, and I would take it. And that's a very similar thing that I want to be able to have for this community here is if there is a potential for that that they know, hey, I could probably still get there might be a sometime soon or sometimes later, but it'd be other ways. And it provides that reassurance that, hey, if you needed to go see your family, you can. So there's there's value to that. And I think the San Francisco market is a very it's more favorable as far as pricing.

Jim:
So I think the risks are probably there. But you have at least another alternative with the L.A. flight. And we also we do have three SFO flights a day, by the way. So there are other ways to keep moving around. But that's what we have for from Redding. And the reason why that that delay also exists is because we're some of the smaller aircraft, at least at this point, and the smaller aircraft are the ones on the chopping block. And what some people don't realize is that if you drive down to Sacramento and you take a regional jet from Sacramento to SFO to connect, they're like like they normally would they're on the same chopping block as Redding. And so you're literally driving for nothing. And so that's something that people don't realize, is that the regional jets have that disadvantage when it comes to connecting at larger hubs. And that's another reason why Denver is going to be huge. Denver is going to be a it's a more reliable and the capacity is incredible. And so I think that that's going to have a lot of value to our community. So when that does start and it will, we're going to see a lot more traffic through Redding.

Katie:
And maybe this is a good time for people who are hearing this and aren't super familiar with the flight services that Redding currently offers. Because of all the change, maybe you can just list out the current flights that are out of Redding Regional Airport and what days those fly, of course.

Jim:
So United will fly daily from Redding to San Francisco three times a day, and then they'll fly to Los Angeles International, LAX, once daily. And Alaska Airlines flies daily to Seattle International. And the last airline that we have is Avelo Airlines. It's a new start up. It's ultra low airfare. They fly to Burbank and Las Vegas. It's other than daily. So it's twice a week right now and it's Monday and Friday. So you could if you're in Redding, you could leave on Friday and come back on Monday and have a great time in Vegas or Burbank and Disneyland or things like that.

Steve:
Jim, when when folks go to the airport now, they might see some construction, it looks like some roadworks happening. Can you give us an update on airport construction? Both what's happened recently, what's going on now and what's to come?

Jim:
Of course, now there I have a pretty aggressive airport capital improvement plan or ASIP, we'll call it. And that that plan, well, it's been pretty successful lately. I mean, we we were a recipient of a $1.15 million grant for our access road. And it was our phase one construction, and that was our front curb. That was a front curb to the terminal. And I was really kind of worried about that because of the impacts it would have. While we're we're really busy and we did a very good job. I mean, Tullis Construction was our contractor and in their subs they did a fantastic job accommodating all of the needs so that we could continue operating. I mean, we were making a glorious mess, but it is gorgeous. And that was just recently completed in May. And we just signed a new grant for the next phase of construction, and that's 2.83 million. And these funds are all 100% funds for this project, and these are very low priority projects. So for us to be able to get a grant for these kinds of things where normally we're competing against runways and taxiways and even with larger airports, this was a pretty big achievement because, I mean, this is kind of where all things start, but it really gave us a nice facelift and beautification, which, you know, our community deserves.

Jim:
But we're we're going to be starting this next phase probably in the coming weeks. We're getting started on the submittals and things needed and we hope to break ground and we will have more traffic signs out there that will have a detour saying, you know, this is how you get into the terminal. So follow the signs. It'll be a little bit inconvenient. It's not going to be super fast, but it'll get you there. So I hope folks will allot more time to be able to get to parking, but it'll be it'll be easy to follow. And we will have various construction phases within this second phase of construction. And what this will do is it'll finish the what we call the circle, Woodrum Circle, and it will also take care of the piece of Knighten and from the light to the circle. And then we're going to do Municipal. And for anybody that doesn't know or municipal is, it connects Flight Avenue, which is to the north. It connects Flight Avenue to the Woodrum Circle. So we're going to be doing that piece as well.

Katie:
I know we had talked previously about Theory coffee going into the airport in the terminal, which is a pretty exciting move for people who have ever flown out of Redding. I think coffee is a big need if you're flying out early in the morning. Can you give us an update on where that project is?

Jim:
Yeah, this is actually exciting because I actually have an update Theory is going to start, I believe this weekend and it's going to be a two month long project to build out what they're going to do in the hold room. And this is the area after screening. But if all goes well in two months, you're going to have Theory coffee in full operation there and I cannot wait.

Katie:
Awesome.

Steve:
That is super exciting. Jim, given that we're in the summer months and obviously here in Redding and Shasta County, wildfires are real and it's something that we're all keen on. How much additional traffic does RDD see during fire season from Cal Fire and others who are flying out of there?

Jim:
Yeah, that so this season fortunately we're it hasn't been off to a crazy start like last last season last season we were by now launching in all directions and when we get that influx of aircraft, it can be very incredible. It's a good thing. I mean, what what this airport does, it does in style. We accommodate them all. And it's not an easy task. And it takes a lot of communication with our US Forest Service partners. They have up there at the tanker base in North Ops, which is for service property. They sub out to Cal Fire. So there's kind of a multiagency up there and there's various types of operations. And I mean, you'll have federal or state aircraft, but then you'll have a lot of contract aircraft that are on those specific missions. And that's a pretty incredible operation, you know, with those that go out and do the reconnaissance or the command and control or even just drop the Fire retardant from tankers or whether it's Sky Crane helicopters with buckets. There are a lot of other similar operations will will be power line inspections and other survey aircraft. So there's a lot of activity and we will see 737's drop off firefighters from Alaska or Montana or Arizona, and they'll come here and they will assist our region with our wildfires. And there's a lot of mutual aid and there's a lot of activity. It's a really well-oiled machine here. We have a great air traffic control tower manager and tower staff, and we're very lucky to have that staff here. And they do an incredible amount of support for those operations.

Jim:
In the middle of our air service operations, our air rescue missions are flight training and private flights. All of those activities take place here. And our tower staff, they're kind of unsung heroes, just like our fire attack aircraft pilots and and support crews. I mean, they they really deserve a lot of credit for what they do for this community to protect us. And I love seeing this operation happen at Redding because there's a lot of good people working hard to defend us and protect us. So I think it's a it's a really cool thing. And to watch it and to see it and to be part of all that coordination and the problem solving. And we do a very good job, our staff and Forest Service staff and all our agency partners, there's a lot and it takes a lot to operate an airport in the middle of all the programs and projects that we're doing. We we do that kind of stuff too, where there's a lot of support functions and we got, there's certain rules that we have to follow and all of us do. And so it's you have to have that working knowledge on what can be done and what can't tell you what. When you go home, if you have a chance to decompress, it's a good feeling. But it's it's tough because the influx of aircraft that we get, it's a rush. So I really want to point out that the staff that we have here at the airport does a lot behind the scenes and is a little known. And all of the businesses here also support those functions, like the Redding jet center, you know, providing the fuel.

Jim:
They do a very good job keeping the fuel loads available so that those aircraft can continue to fly. Last year, very few people know, but we actually had a fuel shortage issue because the tanker drivers that you have to be endorsed for that kind of stuff, the hazmat, they are just like the pilots. They can only drive so many hours. So there were some airports that had to cancel flights because they didn't have the fuel. That did not happen at RDD. We didn't have any suspension of fire attack aircraft or air rescue or air service. What I what we call that is irregular operations because we are doing our normal air service and regular flights. But then we will have this influx and it does cause irregular operations. It changes on the ground, it changes in the air. And there's just a lot of pieces involved. So you've got to be plugged in. You've got to you've got to have good partners in. And if you don't have good partners, you know, it makes it harder to do your job. But we don't have that issue here and we really value each other and we really appreciate it because the Forest Service, they need our runway, they need an airport, they need the services and we need them. So it's a really great relationship and it's going to it's going to continue that way. And I'm going to do everything I can to support them. I've not turned away these kind of aircraft. You know, we will support them at one airport or the other.

Katie:
Is there anything that you'd like to touch on that you haven't already touched on or to leave with the community? I mean, we haven't done an update with you in a while. So is there anything you'd like to let people know or anything particular that people should keep in mind over the next little while?

Jim:
I like to remind folks that Redding is right here. It's right here for you and give RDD a good look. You check out all the airlines that are here, and you might be surprised the airfares have gone down. The reliability factor is up there and we're continuing to grow. And, you know, there's so much value to flying local instead of driving. And I'm hearing it more and more that people actually they love being able to just arrive home and not have to do that long drive back. There's so much value to that and there's peace of mind. And one of the things that I want to work on is, you know, continue to make things hassle free for our passengers and and just really improve the experience. And with the terminal that we have now, it's quickly become pretty small, especially when we have overlapping flights and when we do look to make some improvements, an expansion. Of their terminal. I want to make sure that we are doing we're having the considerations that are important to our community, like, you know, gift shops and, you know, more food choices like food courts and lounges and maybe breastfeeding room, pet relief area, a viewing area that's come up a lot. But areas. I mean, instead of having like just a functional box to put people, I want to be able to have more of the amenities and enhancements that the community really enjoy.

Jim:
And that's my goal is to make it nicer. And if folks are flying and they see something that they like, I would love to hear about it. I would love to to see a picture or have an email where someone says, hey, look, you know, I'd really like it if you could do something like this. It would be great for Redding. I would love to see that. I would love to get some ideas. And this isn't my airport, this is the community's airport. So I want to be able to meet those expectations and have those considerations. And then one of the things that I like to do is just find a way to fund it, because that's always a problem that is limiting. And I don't want to see a limit to that. Like, let's, let's do it, let's find a way and I'll get working. I will find a way. And that's that's kind of what I'm all about is, is being an advocate for this community with the FAA, with DOT, with Caltrans, whatever it takes to get the enhancements and improvements here that I know this community will enjoy and use.

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