Chandler Municipal Airport Update…

Nov. 6, 2024

CHANDLER, Ariz. - A recent Chandler City Council work session provided a brief overview of Chandler Municipal Airport (CHD), recent airport projects, and an update on its strategic business plan. The meeting also served as a preliminary discussion for a future community impact study.

To kick off the meeting, Airport Manager Ryan Reeves provided the Council with a brief overview of Chandler's Airport:

• Chandler has a long history in aviation - the city has had an airport since 1928, and it's been at its current location at McQueen and Germann roads since 1948.
• CHD is the nation's 17th busiest general aviation airport in U.S.
• In Arizona, CHD is the 6th busiest airport, accounting for 8% of all controlled air traffic within the state.
• CHD has two parallel runways (4,870 feet and 4,401 feet) and is the only public-use airport in Maricopa County with runways less than 5,000 feet-yet it's one of three general aviation airports in the County with two runways.
• The 550-acre facility is home base for more than 440 aircraft.
• There are approximately 100 developable acres of land on airport property-the majority of it being on the south side of the airport.
• Aeronautical businesses at CHD include: flight training, fixed-based operator, charter services, aircraft repair and maintenance, aircraft sales, aircraft avionics and aircraft rental.
• Predominant uses include flight training, private recreational flying and business aviation.
• The airport anchors Chandler Airpark, the city's second-largest employment corridor.
• CHD has one of the busiest contract control towers in the nation; the tower is owned and maintained by the city.
• CHD has a staff of seven full-time employees with industry experience.

According to the 2021 Airport Master Plan, CHD needs to build or develop in the next 10 to 20 years to accommodate industry demand in the national airspace system. CHD has made significant strategic infrastructure improvements over the past several years to help prepare for future growth and development.

Major projects include: the replacement of transmission and receiving equipment in the control tower; installation of a wildlife perimeter fence; increased the number of ingress points for emergency personnel; an operations garage; resurfacing of the tower parking lot; reconstruction of pavement serving more than 140 hangars; resurfacing of the South runway; and the creation of an aircraft observation area.

The majority of these projects have been funded by federal and state grants. In fact, since 2021, CHD has received more than $5 million from the FAA and the Arizona Department of Transportation in capital project grants. The city's local match for these grants was nearly $133,000 for a return on investment of 3,854% or more than 38 times the local match amount.

The majority of general aviation airports across the nation rely on funding from their respective cities to maintain operations. The same is true for CHD, however, the airport is not getting its fair market share of business aviation and one of the goals of this strategic business plan is to correct that and generate more revenue.

Additional revenue will help eliminate expenses that the airport is currently incurring. Also, the strategic business plan could help the airport secure more funding through the state and federal government; rely less on subsidies, and create more jobs to exponentially increase its economic impact.

City staff began working with a consultant on the strategic business plan-the first in its 76-year history-in the first quarter of this year and the majority of the work has been focused on preparation and defining the plan's scope of work. The consultant also has been working with a steering committee consisting of city staff, key stakeholders from the industry and professional associations. This steering committee stressed that business aviation development would not be at the expense of small general aviation support and development.

The strategic business plan consists of three phases: preparation, development and implementation. To date, the following elements as part of the development phase have been completed: market assessments, a detailed SWOT analysis, established and prioritized goals. Draft mission, vision and values statements were reviewed by the Council. The steering committee will work on making those statements more concise. Plan objectives, action plans and budgets also will be worked on during this development phase for Council approval.

During the work session, staff also provided a brief overview of key findings from the SWOT analysis:

• Strengths: Airport's customer service, facility maintenance, airport layout plan and the land availability for development.
• Weaknesses: Airport's marketing program, rents, hangar availability (nationwide issue), runway length and the runway ordinance
• Opportunities: Proximity to major highways, number and type of aircraft operations, aircraft charter operations, local economy due to strong demographics; economic impact to the community
• Threats: Proximity to residential areas; hangar availability; political climate (primarily state and federal funding), capital funding.

Highlights from the market assessment includes $55 million in total impact on the state's economy, nearly 500 total jobs, 58,600 out-of-state visitors spending $11.5 million and more than $20 million in employee earnings.

Financial analysis recommendations were discussed including: restructuring of airport financial statements for better of operating performance; adjustment of fuel flowage and associated airside fees; establishing a common area maintenance fee for tenants who benefit from said areas; and ensuring all lease rates remain at market value.

The steering committee originally drafted more than 70 goals related to the strategic business plan. From there, five priority goals were identified:

• Lease an additional 30 acres by 2029
• Increase revenues by 15% by the same year
• Develop and implement a staffing plan to cover the tower's hours of operations
• Develop and update the airport's compliance documents (rules & regulations, etc.) by 2026
• Complete a community impact study in 2025 and revisit a possible runway extension.

The community impact study will focus on why the airport's need for a runway extension could benefit the community and why that's important. A critical component of the study is connecting with the community and fostering those relationships. Airport staff has been reaching out and hosted its first open house (Airport Day) in seven years. Staff also is proactively getting involved with multiple organizations such as the Chandler Chamber, the Arizona Airports Association, Greater Phoenix Economic Council and aviation industry associations.

The study will be a four-phased approach that will continue through 2025. A consultant will work closely with internal and external stakeholders while also working with city staff to execute a comprehensive communication and outreach plan to proactively engage the public. It's important for residents to understand how the airport operates and the critical role it plays.

Staff will continue to update the Council on its progress of both the strategic business plan and community impact study and share key findings for Council approval.

View/download the detailed Work Session Airport presentation. Those interested in keeping up-to-date with airport news are encouraged to subscribe to CHD's quarterly e-newsletter online. For more information about CHD, visit Chandler Municipal Airport.

Media contact:
Stephanie Romero
Public Information Officer, City of Chandler
480-782-2231