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Hastings City Airport manager outlines expansion plans, operations and economic role
Summary
Airport manager Gino Lucci told the Barry County Board of Commissioners on March 25, 2025, that Hastings City Airport is largely self-funded, supports medevac and military training, and has multiple projects planned including a new terminal, taxiway rehab and an AWOS installation.
Gino Lucci, airport manager for Hastings City Airport, told the Barry County Board of Commissioners on March 25, 2025, that the jointly owned airport is expanding facilities, increasing operations and serving as a local economic asset.
Lucci said the airport is owned by both the City of Hastings and Barry County and is overseen by a board that includes two county commissioners. He described the field as a 270-acre facility with a 5,000-foot paved main runway and two grass runways, 88 based aircraft and substantial medevac and military flight activity. “We have over 16,000 operations annually,” Lucci said, and added that the field supported 35,382 passengers in the most recent fiscal data he cited.
Lucci emphasized that the airport is largely self-funded and credited the Baum family for infrastructure that enables rent and fee income. “We are one of the few airports, I believe it's 3 at this point, in Michigan that are self funded,” he said. He outlined several projects and events: a new 1,900-square-foot terminal expected to be finished in July 2025; a $500,000 taxiway rehabilitation with drainage work planned for fall 2025; installation of an automated weather-observation system (AWOS) in winter 2025 to provide real-time local weather; and a parallel taxiway projected for 2027. Lucci also said another aerospace manufacturer planned to break ground in 2025, though that timeline may be delayed.
Lucci described the airport’s services — fuel sales, flight training, aircraft maintenance, an on-field aircraft manufacturer, crop-dusting support, and significant aero-ambulance activity — and said those operations generate local jobs and activity. He cited state and federal sources for economic-impact data, reporting 107 local jobs attributed directly to the field and noting the airport’s importance to medevac operations. Lucci asked for the community’s engagement and listed planned public events including a pancake breakfast fly-in on July 12, 2025, a Young Eagles youth flying program and a late-October “Haunted Hangars” event.
After Lucci’s presentation, the board continued with the agenda. The meeting had earlier approved the consent agenda and the March 11, 2025 meeting minutes by roll call vote.
