FORT SMITH -- City directors have agreed to help the Fort Smith Regional Airport in its application for a $1 million grant.
The Fort Smith Board of Directors unanimously endorsed the airport's application for a $1 million Small Community Air Service Development Program grant and pledged to provide up to $100,000 for the local match if the airport is selected.
"The grant is to secure additional airline service to Fort Smith, either through another airline or through expansion of the service American [Airlines] currently offers," Fort Smith City Administrator Carl Geffken said.
He said the airport authority has hired a consultant to help it decide the best strategy with the airlines to increase both providers and destinations.
Fort Smith Regional Airport has one hub service, with several daily flights to and from Dallas-Fort Worth through American Airlines.
Geffken said Michael Griffin, the airport director, originally asked the city for a 20% or $200,000 match grant, and Geffken said the city would speak to other organizations and companies in town using the airport to match the additional $100,000. He said the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce has pledged $20,000 to $25,000.
In a memo to Geffken, Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman said the airport saw a covid-19 impact with a 38% decrease in seats and 42% reduction in flights in 2021 compared to 2019. He noted that's a higher reduction than other airports in the nation and said the grant would help Fort Smith restore service to a second hub, similar to what it had prior to the pandemic.
"The United States Air Force 188th Wing, located in the Fort Smith area, was selected as a new Foreign Military Sales training site, with activation in 2023. This along with the significant local population makes this air service initiative critical to the area. A public-private partnership has been formed, there is a significant nonairport contribution, and American Airlines supports this air service initiative as shown in their letter of support," he said.
At-large Director Robyn Dawson said she travels from and brings people to Fort Smith for her job, and losing Delta meant the city lost a lot of business to airports in Northwest Arkansas, Tulsa and Dallas. She said she thinks the board should do what it can to bring in other airline carriers, saying the economic impact will surpass the city's $100,000 investment.
"I'd really much rather fly Fort Smith," she said.
The directors also unanimously approved authorizing the submission of an Arkansas Economic Development Commission grant to the airport for a runway expansion.
In a memo from Geffken to the directors, he explained the state and the city are working together to fund the expansion so the airport can accommodate wide-body aircraft.
"This has always been in the long range plan," Geffken said. "The runway will go from 8,100 feet long to 9,300 feet long. That really is the difference between a fully loaded 777 being able to just make it, to having plenty of space to do so. That's really one of our largest wide bodies today, so that will hopefully help with the likes of FedEx if they want to come here for more, or other planes -- God forbid -- landing in an emergency, or eventually having scheduled service."