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Muskegon County airport reports passenger gains, construction on taxiway; UPS feeder change to reduce cargo
Summary
County airport staff reported increases in passenger traffic compared with last year, terminal renovation nearing completion, taxiway construction under way and a regional UPS feeder change that will reduce overnight UPS cargo service to Muskegon.
A county airport representative, identified in the meeting as Mr. Hackett, told the Muskegon County Board Transportation Committee that passenger and operations numbers are up compared with last year even as the airport copes with industry disruptions and active construction.
Hackett said March and April operations reports show passenger use up about 200% from the same period last year. He described a recent multi-airline system outage that caused delays but few cancellations and said the airport managed some flights with charter certificates to reduce cancellations.
On cargo, Hackett reported that UPS cut feeder routes nationwide and that Martin Air no longer serves Muskegon for UPS overnight deliveries; cargo destined for UPS will be routed to Lansing and trucked to Muskegon, he said. He called the revenue impact limited to slightly lower landing fees.
Construction updates included a terminal renovation that is about 98% complete; the remaining work is installation of carpet. Hackett said renovated restrooms have already been heavily used. He also reported that Taxiway Alpha construction is about 75% complete, with a major earth-moving phase scheduled to begin May 27 and some planned runway closures during the work. Hackett said the work will replace roughly 30% of the airport pavement and that the project may extend into the next year if seasonal weather prevents finishing asphalt work later in the year.
Hackett said the airport has received a state grant to support a Milwaukee route and that the airport is negotiating with two airlines; one airline could start the route this year while the other prefers to wait until next summer. He also noted the airport's annual Federal Aviation Administration inspection is scheduled for next week.
Commissioners asked about the runway timeline; Hackett said the project was projected to finish by the end of the calendar year but contingency planning could push completion into April of the following year if winter pause is required. No formal committee vote was required for the operational and construction updates.
