STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Sun Valley’s Airport Manager Chris Pomeroy contends that the airport is the most important Main Street in any town—a sound bite he borrowed from Norm Crabtree, former aviation director for the state of Ohio.
That Main Street in the Wood River Valley contributes $120 million to $190 million annually to the local and state economies. And it's about to get a new air traffic control tower, a new upper level parking lot, new entry and exit roads and more of the acclaimed Embraer E-175 next generation regional jets.
Pomeroy, the airport manager for Friedman Memorial Airport, outlined the changes coming to SUN this week for members of Sun Valley Economic Development (SVED). The meeting attracted a wide array of valley leaders ranging from Sun Valley’s General Manager Tim Silva to Developer Jack Bariteau.
Pomeroy said the airport will relocate the tower, building either a traditional sticks or bricks tower or, perhaps, a remote or virtual tower. The remote tower would monitor air traffic utilizing high-tech cameras and other systems that would be predicated around the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next Generation, or NextGen, National Airspace System.
Pomeroy added that the airport is looking toward the development of a new instrument approach that the E-175 and other general aviation aircraft can use during inclement weather.
Horizon/Alaska Airline’s new RNP (Required Navigation Performance) technology has been a boon to preventing diversions during bad weather. Pomeroy added that the airport is looking towards the development of a new instrument approach that the E-175 and other general aviation aircraft can use during inclement weather.
“I don’t know when it will take place—probably not next winter. But maybe the winter after,” he added.
Friedman has a $7 million annual budget, half of which goes to operations and half which goes to capital improvements. Some of that money will be used to reconfigure the top-level parking lot and access roads in and out of the airport with work beginning by March, weather permitting.
Roads leading in and out of the airport will be flipped, with the entrance being shifted to the north side by St. Luke’s Hailey clinic. The exit will be shifted to the south side where the entrance now is. The new lot will have credit card capability with the eventual goal of being a fully automated parking lot system.
A fourth commercial air parking space will be added. And airport officials are working with land owners to remove some trees on the Eccles Ranch that could pose a safety hazard.
Meanwhile, Delta will start replacing some of its Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft with the more comfortable Embraer E-175 planes for its SUN to SLC route this spring and early summer.
SVED Director Harry Griffith said that the valley needs to keep its eye on several developments.
Among them: Salt Lake City’s $2.5 billion airport expansion which is expected to add 30 new gates by 2020. This could impact Sun Valley service since Delta is SUN’s main partner, Griffith said.
Also, new resort strategies, in particular ski passes like the Mountain Collective pass. The Mountain Collective pass has been very successful, boosting the percentage of first-time visitors to Sun Valley by 18 percent this past year. In fact, Sun Valley is called the poster child for the pass, said Mike Fitzpatrick, Sun Valley’s marketing director.
Skiers typically fly into Salt Lake City, drive to Jackson and then on to Sun Valley before returning to Salt Lake. Many of those skiers who came last year are returning this year and the pass is bringing many more first-time visitors.
The EPIC pass, which generates $600 million for Vail, is a game changer, said Griffith. And now the new Alterra Mountain Company is looking to capitalize with an IKON pass offering access to 23 resorts.
Sun Valley General Manager Tim Silva said Sun Valley is waiting to see the details of the pass, such as how much skiing will be offered and under what restrictions. “There’s no need to rush into things, he added. “Mountain Collective has been hugely successful for us. And it’ll be around next year.”
Changing demographics will also dictate the future, said Griffith. Younger age groups don’t book a month in advance, as do the Baby Boomers. Visit Sun Valley is trying to figure out how many skiers are in each demographic group, how many come to Sun Valley and how the local market can capture those who aren’t coming here.
Griffith also added that Sun Valley should look at capitalizing on Boise’s proximity with a “last leg air connection,” such as that between Telluride and Grand Junction.
Boise gets 20,000 flights a year compared with Sun Valley’s 2,000. That’s nearly 2 million seats compared with Sun Valley’s 125,000.
“They have flights coming in from Portland from morning to night,” he said.
OTHER NEWS:
ECLIPSE BOLSTERS ENPLANEMENTS: Friedman recorded 88,000 enplanements in 2017—a 10 percent increase over the previous year and the highest in 16 years. The six day stretch around the total solar eclipse in August was the busiest the airport has ever seen.
The number of passengers is now above the pre-recession levels after taking a steep nosedive. Forty-three percent of passengers are repeat visitors; 21 percent, first-time visitors; 20 percent, fulltime residents, and 16, percent part-time residents. Eighty-three percent of visitors come for leisure, events or to visit family.
SUN’S NO. 3: Friedman Memorial Airport’s 88,000 enplanements put it behind Idaho Falls’ 1.489 million enplanements and Boise’s 1.487 million enplanements. SUN has more enplanements than the Twin Falls, Pocatello and Moscow-Pullman airports, said Pomeroy.
LESS LEAKAGE TO BOISE: More flight options at SUN has cut the number of passengers leaking to Boise in half, said Carol Waller, director of Fly Sun Valley Alliance. Twenty-seven percent of passengers went through Boise in 2009-10. Only 15 percent did so last year.
AN ECONOMIC DRIVER: SUN generated $120 million of economic activity according to the latest calculations. Griffith believes that’s a conservative figure—he puts it at $190 million of activity.
Planes brought 58,000 new visitors to the valley last year, who spent $81 million. It’s estimated that all visitors and part-time residents spent $477 million in total direct spending.
ACCESSING THE WORLD: SUN passengers can now access 374 destinations given the flights in place, said Waller.
FARE DECREASES: Fares have come down an average 10 percent in the past year, said Waller Sometimes you can book a flight cheaper out of Sun Valley than Boise or Salt Lake, she added.
RESTRUCTURING “THE ANNUAL FLYING EVENT”: Chris Pomeroy spent his first day on the job in 2016 during the Allen & Company fly-in, or what he calls “the annual flying event.”Watching the delays that ensued, he vowed to take steps to correct them. There were no delays in 2017, he said.
DIVERSIONS DOWN: Last winter’s heavy snowfall impacted the airport’s bottom line--when planes can’t land, the airport doesn’t get landing and other fees. Diversions are down significantly this year, thanks to the high pressure system in a holding pattern over Sun Valley.
“I don’t know the percentages but it is significantly less,” said Pomeroy.
Those who do have to take the bus from Twin Falls are welcomed with a video that says, “Yes, you’re riding the bus, but that means it’s snowing. Anywhere else your flight would be cancelled, but we’re getting you where you’re going,” said Waller.
BUSINESS TRAVEL SURVEY: A survey conducted Nov. 27 through Dec. 15 elicited 180 responses. It indicated 15,000—or 34 percent—of SUN’s passengers are business travelers and 20 percent of those are local residents.
The typical Wood River Valley business buys 10 to 24 tickets a year, spending $10,000 to $50,000 on them. Eight percent spend from $50,000 to a half-million dollars a year on air travel.
Sixty-nine percent of valley business travelers use SUN; 20 percent, Boise; 9 percent, Twin Falls, and 2 percent, other (likely, Salt Lake City).
Thirty-four percent said they plan to fly more in 2018; 3 percent, less, and the remainder, the same.
Fifty one percent head to Seattle 46 percent, L.A.; 45 percent, San Francisco; 34 percent, New York; 31 percent, Denver; 26 percent, Portland; 17 percent, Chicago, and 14 percent, Salt Lake City and Atlanta.
Nine percent are very satisfied; 29 percent, somewhat; 16 percent, neutral; 24 percent somewhat dissatisfied, and 12 percent, very dissatisfied. The biggest complaints: airfare prices, flight schedules and flight reliability in winter.
Fifty-eight percent would like more flights to Salt Lake City for convenience sake, but there’s not enough demand from locals to increase the number during the off-season, said Waller.