Rufus James Airport Manager Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport
How are you working with the public or private sector to promote Fort Lauderdale? Our mission is to attract business to the area, help those businesses prosper and be a benefit to the community. We’re one of only a few general aviation airports in South Florida that offers U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) services for aircraft as well as the local boater program for boat operators. In 2015, a state-of-the-art facility was constructed, which significantly enhanced airport operations, optimized speed and efficiency, and dramatically improved service delivery, all of which greatly benefit the corporate and recreational travelers who arrive from around the globe. The CBP facility is equipped with global entry kiosks and passport control kiosks for passenger processing similar to what is found at the international airports. We were also able to extend CBP operating hours until midnight to accommodate business aircraft and air ambulance flights operating from foreign countries, including Latin America. What were some of your highlights and takeaways from the past year? We were going into the first quarter having exceeded the previous year monthly operations. One of the things an airport looks at to determine its performance is the number of airplane landings and takeoffs. By the middle of March, we thought we would not even beat 2019’s number, but thankfully we managed and experienced an 8% increase for March 2020 operations. In April, we experienced a 38% decrease in operations during the pandemic, but despite an increase in operations for May 2020, that increase was still 19% less than the previous year. In June, traffic certainly returned, and we experienced an increase of 26% more operations than June of 2019. Overall, the calendar year operations (2019 versus 2020) ended practically even with a very minimal deficit of .02 fewer operations (44 less takeoffs and landings), which is remarkable from a global perspective. International travel was the missing piece from our operations count. 46
| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE
The New River Bridge is 55 feet above the South Fork of the New River in Fort Lauderdale.
Capital projects The city of Fort Lauderdale has a total of $1.4 billion in community investment projected over the next five years. The city recently decided to reconsider the future of the parking garages next to the main library, which are underutilized and occupy prime real estate in the Downtown area. “Our downtown is really transforming into a cosmopolitan area that will be a gem of the world,” Mayor Trantalis said. “People can truly live, work and play in one spot. You can step out of your residence and walk to a grocery, one of an amazing array of restaurants or an incredible slate of entertainment offerings. It’s only going to get better in the coming years.” Among the key challenges for the city are transportation and pedestrian traffic. Specifically, the city’s beaches and infrastructure along the Downtown and Las Olas corridor are choke points for pedestrian traffic. The Penny Transportation surtax created an opportunity for transportation improvements in the city. Through neighborhood advocacy and collaboration with the Public Works Department, the Broward County Commission approved funding for the first cycle of municipal-request projects totaling $10.6 million. The Brightline station is another initiative in the spotlight. The station should be the hub of a service within Broward, connecting it to the international airport and communities to the north and south and beyond to Palm Beach and Miami. But a choke point exists with the commuter rail at the crossing at the New River and increased rail traffic over this bridge would negatively impact the maritime industry. For various reasons, the bridge connection would not be
