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Airport nears goal

Air traffic could trigger $1M federal subsidy

ALPENA — The Alpena County Regional Airport is closing in on its goal of 10,000 airplane boardings, which would entitle the airport to a $1 million subsidy from the Federal Aviation Administration.

So far this year, the airport has recorded nearly 1,000 more enplanements than at this point last year, officials said. Last month, there were 1,011 paid passengers, pushing the annual total to 8,835, with nearly three full months to make up the difference.

In 2016, the airport failed to reach the 10,000 enplanement mark, but the federal government bailed it out by offering small suburban airports a one-time allocation if they had a minimum of 10,000 enplanements in 2012, which the Alpena airport had.

Tweaks to pricing, scheduling and marketing seems to have helped overcome those struggles and the airport met the 10,000-enplanement goal in 2017.

Unless something major develops, it is poised to do so again this year.

Airport Manager Steve Smigelski said he anticipated numbers would climb because of the changes at the airport, but he didn’t expect the enplanements to jump so quickly.

“I’m pleasantly surprised,” Smigelski said. “I thought it would be a slow road to recovery, so this is truly outstanding.”

October is typically a solid month for the airport, Smigelski said. Last October, the airport recorded more than 1,000 enplanements and he hopes that will be the case again this month.

The number of passengers utilizing the 6 a.m. flight has also increased, Smigelski said, which lends credence to the belief numbers will continue to be strong moving forward. He suspects there could be even more people choosing to use Alpena and SkyWest to travel once a new terminal opens next year.

“Right now, this old terminal is crowded and passenger-unfriendly, so I’m sure there are people who avoid us just to avoid the unpleasant experience of it,” he said. “With a nice, shiny new terminal with more room and better amenities, I think those people will begin traveling with us.”

Smigelski said the $1 million would need to be used for airport improvements, such as runway repairs, safety equipment and other equipment or vehicles used to operate the airport.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5689.

Follow Steve on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.

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