Witham Field drives Martin County economy; airport highlights customs facility, noise program and community tours

Andrew McBean, director of Witham Field Airport in Martin County, told a local podcast audience that the airport is the county’s largest economic driver and operates as an enterprise fund that does not rely on general-tax revenues.

McBean said the airport generates jobs and broader local spending, operates a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) user-fee facility that has served residents since 2018, and has pursued noise-mitigation steps including a residential sound-insulation program. He also described community tours, wildlife encounters and the airport’s role hosting the Stewart Air Show and drone displays.

Witham Field’s reported economic impact and jobs: McBean said the airport’s latest economic-impact estimate is about $1.3 billion and that it is associated with “about over 6,800 jobs” that come from on-airport employment and related visitor spending. He emphasized the airport’s funding model, saying, “the airport does not need the support of taxpayer dollars. It generates its own revenues, and from those revenues it operates its own operating expenses and its capital expenses.”

Customs and marine clearance: McBean said the airport houses a CBP user-fee facility, open since 2018, that allows residents to clear customs locally after returning from the Bahamas by aircraft or vessel. He said Customs and Border Protection operates the facility, the county pays for the facility’s maintenance and the presence of officers, and individuals pay a fee when they clear the facility.

Noise mitigation and community program: McBean described a voluntary nighttime curfew the airport promotes from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. He said staff monitor operations and notify pilots who fly during curfew windows; the airport has “achieved somewhere between 96 to 98% compliance” with the voluntary nighttime curfew, he said. He described an Airport Noise Advisory Committee (ANAC) with 13 members that has worked for more than 20 years with the airport and the Board of County Commissioners on noise compatibility issues.

Residential sound-insulation project: McBean said the airport and the ANAC have budgeted for a residential sound-insulation program to reduce interior noise for homes near the airport. He said the project was originally budgeted at $1,500,000 and that the current design package cost came in “a lot less than that, around $788,100,” which he described as a favorable development for moving the work forward.

Community outreach, tours and events: Witham Field staff run free behind-the-scenes tours — including a 15-passenger open-air tram — for residents, schools and county groups, McBean said. He described wildlife on the airport’s roughly 780 acres and recounted retrieving and transporting an injured anhinga from a runway. He also discussed the Stewart Air Show (more than 30 years running) and a drone show that required FAA Part 107–certified remote pilots and special exemptions to operate in airport airspace.

What the airport does not change: McBean repeatedly framed the airport’s role and limits: it operates as an enterprise fund separate from the county’s general fund and uses fees and airport revenues to pay operating and capital costs. He said the customs facility and sound-insulation work each rely on fee revenue or airport budgeting rather than direct taxpayer general-fund appropriations.

For residents interested in learning more, McBean invited listeners to schedule a tour; the podcast hosts said show notes would include scheduling links.