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Airport director reports seasonal Delta service, safety upgrades; council to review committee structure
Summary
Airport Director Jose Saavedra informed the Business & Economic Development Committee that Delta will add seasonal Detroit flights, the airport finalized a water-rescue plan and is pursuing a Safety Management System, and passenger and parking figures set records; members asked the Council to reexamine airport committee oversight.
The committee heard an airport report from Airport Director Jose Saavedra and discussed how the airport should be overseen by Council.
Committee governance: Councilor Leonard asked whether the airport should remain under the Business & Economic Development (BED) Committee or have its own Council committee. City Manager Deb Lohrey said the current consolidation put airport oversight under BED to reduce the number of separate committee nights and recommended a full-council discussion before changing committee structure. Several councilors noted benefits to a separate airport committee for deeper, project-level oversight; Councilor House said a committee focused on the airport had historically spent significant time on runway projects and master-plan questions. The group agreed to bring the committee-structure question back to the full council for a workshop discussion.
Airport operations and service: Saavedra gave four main updates. He said late last week the airport received confirmation from Delta Airlines that it will add seasonal service connecting Bangor to Detroit this summer. "That's again something additional for this season," Saavedra said. Saavedra also presented safety work: the airport has an airport emergency plan, annual exercises with mutual-aid partners, and recently finalized a water-rescue plan after national incidents raised urgency. Saavedra described work on a Safety Management System (SMS) and said airport and city employees attended training and peer visits to learn how to implement an SMS.
Traffic and finance highlights: Saavedra said winter months showed record operations; parking revenue for February was up about 23% year over year. He also highlighted a new annual report for the airport that documents construction on the runway and a new parking lot built to address seasonal demand.
Why it matters: councilors said better, regular reporting and clearer committee oversight would help the public and Council evaluate airport safety, operations, and capital needs. City staff committed to returning the committee-structure question as a full-council workshop item and to provide more regular, detailed airport reporting to the Council.
Ending: Saavedra said the airport remains engaged with trade associations and industry peers to monitor aviation trends and safety practices and will continue to brief Council on service and safety developments.
