City Connect FORT DODGE

Why is our airport important?

Our airport is more than runways, taxiways, terminal, and hangars. It is a powerful engine for economic growth and possibilities for our community and region. It is often the first impression for those who are visiting and companies looking to locate a new business in our community or expand their current business.

Aviation has many facets that impact the economic growth and well being of our community. It is a tool which contributes to the efficiency and success of many companies along with enhancing our quality of life.

Having access to an airport facility such as ours, with a runway that can accommodate a Boeing 737, supports so much more than just commercial airline flights. Companies across the globe use business aircraft which allows for critical time-savings and efficiencies that other modes of transportation fall short.

Our airport supports medical air ambulances and fulfills the needs of agriculture through aerial applicators. It supports activities such as charters, aircraft maintenance, and flight instruction.

Our airport is certified as a Class I airport within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Meaning, we must meet the same FAA requirements and regulations as a larger airport, such as Des Moines.

The city supports funding for capital expenditures in the form of local match dollars to leverage millions of dollars from the FAA and State of Iowa for projects that continue to improve our airport.

It is important to note that while the airport’s annual operating budget is a little over $700,000, the airport generates revenue for almost 60% of this budget. In 2022, the Iowa DOT Aviation Bureau completed an Economic Impact Study for Iowa’s airport. The total Annual Economic Activity for the Fort Dodge Regional Airport translated to $87,000,000. Not a bad return on $300,000 of tax supported dollars annually for our airport.

The airport property is just shy of 1,000 acres. To put this in perspective, the airport property would cover from the Des Moines River by the Karl King Viaduct and go all the way out to 32nd Street by Sherwin Williams and Perkins. It would encompass all of downtown, all of the retail center, and everything in between.

The airport must be maintained in compliance to strict FAA standards for all of the runways, taxiways, lights, pavement markings, airfield signs. In addition to runways/taxiways/aprons there are hundreds of acres that are deemed by the FAA to be aircraft safety areas. The FAA conducts an annual two-day inspection of our airport for compliance to the regulation. There is a night inspection which consist of inspecting airfield lighting brightness and color, counting the times the rotating beacon turns in a minute, airfield lit signage, and the percentage of reflective beads in the paint markings. The daytime inspection would look at things in the regulation for safety compliance such as anything more than a 3-inch drop off the edge of a runway, taxiway, or apron pavement, the width of a centerline paint marking and distance from other pavement markings. And yes, they do physically measure these things with a tape measure. They also look for any uneven surfaces or loose aggregate on all the airfield pavements. There are regulations for snow removal restricting height of windrows, removing snow/ice containments from the runways and taxiways for aircraft operations. They inspect all training records as required in the regulations within a 12-month cycle.

In addition to the FAA regulations, our airport employees maintain over 30 pieces of airport equipment and vehicles, including specialized airport equipment. These employees also perform building maintenance on all the structures at the airport. This includes 28 aircraft hangars, the main terminal building, FAA building, their shop and fire station, the perimeter fence, and other things like our two aviation 12,000-gallon fuel tanks. They maintain the grounds that are outside of the airport operations safety areas and address all wildlife issues in compliance with our wildlife hazards management plan.

These employees are also cross trained as Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighters (ARFF) and must be on standby at the fire station for any commercial flights.

There have been many celebrities that have passed through our airport. One I will always remember is a helicopter landing and seeing a man in sunglasses and hat walking close to the terminal building instead of out on the ramp. As he walked right past my office window, he saw me and waived enthusiastically! I thought to myself, “Wow, that guy looks just like Harrison Ford!” Not believing this could really be him, I did not investigate. However, the employee fueling the helicopter had talked to him and verified that, indeed, it was Harrison Ford. He had walked into the terminal, which was full of airline passengers, went to the restroom, paid his fuel bill, and left in his helicopter without anyone knowing it was him except the employee who fueled his helicopter.

In conclusion, you just never know who might come to our airport because as we all know…

A Mile of Highway will take you a Mile, but a Mile of Runway will take you Anywhere!