Expansion envisioned in airport master plan

A new master plan envisions expanded parking and terminal space for the Springfield-Branson National Airport over the next two decades.

Springfield City Council approved the plan, described by Aviation Director Brian Weiler as the culmination of two years of planning, at its July 22 meeting.

“The airport has been in a period of rapid growth for a number of years,” he said. “We’ve basically doubled our passenger enplanements since the last master plan was done in 2012.”

In his remarks to council, Weiler said airports must have an approved master plan to be eligible for the funding they depend on from the Federal Aviation Administration for development. He added that the FAA indicated it would move to approve the plan soon after council’s adoption.

He noted the plan is data driven and based on the airport’s needs.

“It’s intended to be a flexible document for us,” he said. “If we are going into a recession and demand goes down, we can adjust our capital improvements program back. If we continue on the strong growth path that we’re on, we can advance plans.”

He also noted what the document is not, and that is a wish list of unjustified needs.

“If we can’t defend it to the FAA, they’re not going to allow us to put it into the master plan,” he said.

Details of the plan
The plan, crafted by Springfield-based consultancy firm Crawford, Murphy & Tilly Inc., was presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission and approved by the airport board before submission to council.

For the main terminal, additional gates will need to be added, Weiler said, with additional customer amenities and concession options and a pet relief area to be developed. Additionally, the emergence of Uber and Lyft ride services – not envisioned when the last 20-year plan was drafted – require better accommodation, he said. Parking areas for both automobiles and aircraft will need to be expanded to meet the growth in demand, he said.

Additionally, dedicated deicing pads for planes are planned to allow aircraft to be deiced away from the terminal, he said.

Weiler said the new master plan also calls for a new general aviation area, which serves corporate and private aircraft as well as a flight school.

“That area today is nearing capacity,” he said, “so the master plan is calling for opening up a whole new general aviation area.”

The airport is currently completing a $6.7 million remodel of its existing general aviation terminal, paid for through airport reserve funds. The project will nearly double the terminal size to 8,923 square feet.

The new general aviation area would be north of West Division Street, he said.

“It’s also a land development opportunity for the airport,” Weiler said. “We can develop this land that we own off of Division as a nonaeronautical development, which would be a good revenue source for the airport.”

Expansion of a cargo ramp and cargo facility is envisioned to accommodate a third cargo operator in addition to UPS and FedEx.

“We’re thinking this area is going to continue to grow,” he said.

Weiler said the master plan also calls for two additional spots for airline maintenance operations, in addition to the American Airlines maintenance operation that is already in place.

He said some of the growth seen locally with American Airlines, which has grown more than any other airport carrier, is because they maintain their aircraft in Springfield. An aircraft mechanic training program by Ozarks Technical Community College will provide some of the workforce to make that possible, he said.

“When that workforce pipeline comes into effect, we hope to attract additional airline maintenance operations down the road,” he said.

Traveler-facing areas
Parking is a priority in the new master plan.

“We’re already well into a parking garage feasibility study right now,” he said. “We’re right now focusing on confirming the location on where that would go, and also a financing plan. Since this is not eligible for any grant funding, we want to make sure that we’re being good stewards of the funds we have in that area.”

A terminal refresh project is planned for later this year or early next year, Weiler said, with a focus on replacing the flooring in the main terminal. Currently, the airport features distinctive carpeting bearing patterns from nature.

“The carpet, which is the grass and the water and the rocks – you know, a lot of thought and effort went into that, but like it or not, it’s 15 years old; it’s been cleaned twice a week for 15 years. It’s nearing the end of its useful life,” he said.

Weiler noted 2023 was a record year for the airport, which has fully recovered from a pandemic slowdown and gained 12% more passengers on top of that. The airport reported 1.3 million total passengers in 2023, an increase of 15.4% over 2022 and 8.8% over the previous record year in 2019.

Councilmember Abe McGull, who served on the master plan committee, said he is excited about the airport and the growth that is taking place there.

“The airport is the welcome mat into our community, and sometimes that’s the first impression someone may have coming here for whether or not they want to expand a business in Springfield,” he said.

He added that the parking expansion is a necessary project.

“Every time I go out there now, I’m having to try to find a parking spot, but that’s a good problem to have in our city,” he said.

McGull asked if any more direct flights are on the horizon for the airport, such as to Washington, D.C., or other cities where it would be easier for locals to make international travel connections.

Weiler said the airport has 13 direct destinations today and about 30 daily flights to six major airline hubs.

“We’ve got pretty good flexibility,” he said, though he acknowledged the public wants more. “Really, every community wants that same thing.”

The reality is that there are fewer and fewer airlines, as carriers continue to consolidate, he said. Even so, he just came off a visit with several airline partners to seek an expansion to the airport’s offerings, with a particular focus on a northeast route to Washington, New York or Philadelphia.

“Rarely do they commit to you on the spot,” he said, “but we have, I think, put structure in place to be as welcome as we can.”

He noted data decides where airlines expand.

“If the community is doing well, the airport’s going to do well,” he said. “If they think they can sell tickets, they’re interested in doing that. We certainly have checked a lot of those boxes.”

Beyond the plan period
While the plan outlines a vision for the next 20 years, Weiler said it also looks ahead to the more distant future, which is something the FAA permits in a master plan.

“They do that, because if you don’t project for those facilities down the road, you could lose that opportunity if we get some incompatible land development,” he said.

As an example, he cited the main terminal, often referred to as the new terminal, which was built 15 years ago.

“We were showing that on the master plan going back 30 or 40 years,” he said.

An extension to an existing runway is one future project. Additionally, what Weiler called a new west parallel runway – a carryover from past master plans – is also planned, though the new plan reduces the length of the runway from 10,000 to 9,000 feet.

“With today’s new technology of aircraft and new engine performance, really, 9,000 feet should be more than what we need in that area,” he said.

He said the airport already owns a majority of the land needed for a future new runway.

“That is a real asset if we grow and get a major project down the road,” he said.

Weiler congratulated past city leadership for providing what he called some of the best airport zoning protections in the state of Missouri.

“We have a strong seat at the table,” he said, adding, “We’re not against compatible development around the airport; we just want to make sure that it doesn’t impact the usability or expandability of the airport.”

Development of the plan involved what Weiler called a significant public involvement and outreach process that included feedback via social media and the airport’s website. A 20-member stakeholder engagement committee, including government and community members, reviewed the progress of the plan at various stages and provided input, and a public meeting was held in October 2023.

Weiler said the contract to complete the plan cost $1.5 million, with 90% of that paid through an FAA grant and the 10% local match coming from airport funds. No city general fund dollars were used, he said.