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Caldwell airport board urges action: lack of tower and infrastructure constrains growth at busiest Idaho general-aviation field
Summary
The airport advisory board told the council the Caldwell Executive Airport is operating at high utilization without a control tower or basic infrastructure on its undeveloped side, and urged collaboration with state and federal partners to fund improvements and a short-term strategic plan.
John Bridal, chair of the Caldwell airport advisory board, and Scott Swanson, the city’s director of aviation, updated the City Council on March 17 about the board’s stakeholder-driven strategic planning work and argued the airport needs immediate attention to manage fast growth.
Bridal told councilors the board completed four stakeholder meetings — including pilots, hangar owners, businesses and federal and state representatives — and used an issues-goals-obstacles-action (IGOA) approach to shape a three-year strategic plan and near-term objectives. He said the board identified three priority problems: lack of a control tower, inadequate infrastructure on the undeveloped side of the field (no sewer, limited electrical and plumbing), and a public perception problem that understates the airport’s regional economic impact.
Swanson provided operational statistics and rate-of-growth figures. He said Caldwell is the busiest airport in Idaho without a control tower, with about 579 aircraft domiciled at the field and roughly 150,000 aircraft operations per year (about 400 operations per day). Swanson told the council that the growth rate in the airport’s master-plan projections (a 2.2% combined annual growth rate) materially understates recent reality: the airport’s actual growth over the past five years averaged about 8.8% annually, which Swanson said equates to adding roughly 35 aircraft per year.
Bridal said the lack of a tower is both a safety issue and a business constraint because some businesses and insurers require towered fields for certain light-turboprop and business-jet operations. He also noted that a control tower’s cost can be substantial; presenters referenced other Idaho projects and said federal infrastructure programs could be a funding source but that specifications and costs can vary widely.
The airport board asked the council for support as it prepares a combined operating/strategic plan and a proposed FY26 budget request to start work on safety improvements and infrastructure needs. Bridal said the board planned to complete action-steps and draft a budget proposal in the next 60 days for council consideration.
Ending: Councilors who attended a recent airport workshop thanked the board; staff said the board and staff would continue to work on a strategic plan and bring budget recommendations for FY26.
