Council approves $5.35 million appropriation for Fort Wayne airport parking, lighting and equipment

The Allen County Council approved an additional appropriation of $5,349,976 to the Fort Wayne–Allen County Airport Authority to pay for a parking lot expansion, airfield snow-removal equipment and roadway mill-and-overlay work and lighting.

Scott Hinman, executive director of the airport, told the council the authority had budgeted to do the lighting and mill overlay in separate years but found it would save money to combine the work now and that funding exists in the airport general fund. "We have a couple projects that were unanticipated or some that were overrun. So we are asking for an additional appropriation of $5,349,976," he said.

Hinman said the largest portion of the appropriation—just over $4 million—will pay for a parking expansion that adds about 500 spaces to the airport’s existing 2,300 spots. "We have 2,300 parking spots today. This project will give us an additional 500," he said, explaining the expansion also involves reconfiguring the airport entrance loop and closing an existing curb cut on Ferguson Road to capture adjacent property for parking.

Mike Zawari, director of administration and finance for the airport, and Hinman described other items included in the request: snow-removal equipment for the airfield that came in higher than budgeted (the authority had budgeted $750,000 but received bids that approached $1 million) and lighting and mill-overlay work in the James E. Kelly Commerce Industrial Park area of the airport.

Hinman told the council the projects are funded from the authority’s general fund and that the airport is not seeking additional county general-fund dollars. He said airlines directly fund certain costs and that the airport’s revenue from parking and passenger growth has increased following record enplanements in 2023 and continued growth in 2024 and into 2025.

Don, the council’s airport liaison, commended airport leadership for transparency and noted passenger growth and visible service improvements. Council members asked logistical questions about where the new parking will be placed, whether a future parking garage is being considered and how long the expansion will carry the airport before additional capacity is needed. Hinman said the expansion should provide capacity for several years but that a garage will likely be necessary later.

Council members moved and seconded the appropriation. The motion passed by voice vote, recorded as "Passes 5 0 2."