Leaders: Eastern Iowa Airport success depends on continuing usage

The post-COVID years have seen substantial success at the Eastern Iowa Airport (CID), with ever-increasing passenger counts and new nonstop flights to key destinations. But continued success – and potential growth – depends on area residents continuing to utilize the Eastern Iowa Airport for their travel needs, airport director Marty Lenss said at the airport’s third annual “State of Your Airport” event June 18. “Without your strong support, we simply do not exist as a commercial service airport,” Mr. Lenss said – a sentiment echoed by Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell. “In order to grow our airport, we must use our airport,” Ms. O’Donnell said. “We need to always look to CID for work as well as leisure travel.” About 200 people attended the event in the main hangar at the airport’s new Fixed Base Operator (FBO) building, a striking $13 million facility completed in April at 3525 Beech Way SW, just west of the main terminal, to house Signature Aviation, the airport’s current FBO, which provides charter and private jet services. The new facility, combined with the fourth and final phase of the airport’s terminal renovation project, represent a $75 million infrastructure investment at the airport, Mr. Lenss said, noting that all the work on both projects has been completed by local contractors. The final terminal renovation project, expected to be completed in the spring of 2025, will include four new gates (bringing the airport’s total to 13), new “hold rooms” or passenger waiting areas, a sensory room, a pet relief area, and a large rooftop patio offering an outdoor view of the runways for airplane arrivals and departures. Mr. Lenss also stressed that  “we have completed both of these projects with zero bonds and zero taxes.” “We’re one of the few airports in the country that have no debt,” he said, adding that the airport has been debt-free since a “bond-burning party” in June 2015. Through the flexibility provided by the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission, airport leaders were able to temporarily pause construction on the terminal modernization project in 2020, when passenger volume dropped by 97%, and resume when “it was financially feasible for us to continue.” The airport’s passenger count reached a record high in 2023, at 1.4 million. And trends for 2024 are already favorable, Mr. Lenss said, with passenger traffic up 10% year-to-date and receipts from airlines up 14% in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period a year ago. But costs have soared as well. Due to inflation, increased construction costs, an updated passenger forecast that indicated a need for additional future space, and other factors, the total cost of the four-phase airport modernization project has skyrocketed from a $50 million estimate when the project was launched in 2014 to an estimated $120 million today. Yet still more is on the horizon. Mr. Lenss said. An area of the CID Super Park known as Tract 7, a 38-acre parcel at the intersection of Arthur Collins Parkway and Wright Brothers Boulevard near the airport’s west entrance, will be opening to shovel-ready aviation and industrial park development by next spring. No specific developments have yet been announced for that site. Also under consideration is a new aircraft maintenance and repair facility that could house up to six commercial airplanes simultaneously. The goal of that project, Mr. Lenss said, Is to “take our fantastic graduates and have family-sustaining jobs immediately across the street.” Mr. Lenss acknowledged that several inquiries have surfaced about a possible new parking facility at the airport. “In order to maintain our fiscal responsibility, the parking deck will not occur for potentially another decade,” he said. “There are several enabling steps we will be taking – some have already begun – to improve parking and traffic flow. (But) all of these improvements are predicated on continued growth and the region continuing to use CID.” Construction of a covered parking ramp costs about $50,000 per stall, Mr. Lenss noted. “When Iowans are ready for $35 a day parking, we’ll start taking a look at (parking plans),” he said.

Other long-term projects, termed “landslide projects,” include an extension of Capitol Drive SW, a new roundabout at 18th Street and Wright Brothers Boulevard, street improvements on 18th Street SW, new wayfaring from Interstate 380 to the airport, and an extension of Stepherd Street SW to the new industrial development areas, all designed to improve traffic flow in and around the airport. Kristen Schilling-Gonzales, vice president of planning for Allegiant Air, also spoke at the event, lauding the low-cost airline’s 20-year service anniversary at the Eastern Iowa Airport and noting that Cedar Rapids is among the most important service areas in the airline’s 18-airport network. Ms. Schilling-Gonzales noted that Allegiant has flown more than 3.3 million passengers at the Eastern Iowa Airport over the past two decades. With plans to carry about 18% of the total passengers at CID, Allegiant is the airport’s third-largest flight provider, she noted. Allegiant has plans for aggressive growth and has about 130 new Boeing 737 Max planes on order. “We’re looking forward to getting back to growing along CID,” Ms. Schilling-Gonzales said. Several local educational leaders also participated in a panel discussion at the event, including Coe College president David Hayes, College Community School District superintendent Doug Wheeler and Kirkwood Community College president Kristie Fisher. All three spoke about their programs to invest in the future of aviation – Coe’s new partnership with Revv Aviation to launch a new flight school and aviation management specialization degree, starting in the fall of 2025; Kirkwood’s new two-year aviation maintenance degree; and College Community’s new Discover Aerospace program for high school students interested in aviation careers, a program expected to launch in the fall of 2025. All three said demand for their respective programs has been strong, and agreed the programs could work together with the Eastern Iowa Airport to address an ongoing shortage of pilots and aviation maintenance workers and foster each program's success. “We’ve got the opportunity to do something really unique for the Corridor here,” Mr. Hayes said. “We can build a fully integrated vertical ecosystem of all things aviation. We can do amazing things through this partnership and this multi-level opportunity related to education from tip to tail.”