May 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes
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Meeting Minutes Airport Commission Regular Meeting May 11, 2022, | 6:30 p.m. Chandler Airport Terminal 2380 S. Stinson Way, Chandler, AZ Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Chairman Hawley at 7:55 p.m. Roll Call Commission Attendance Staff Attendance Chairman Christopher Hawley Ryan Reeves, Airport Manager Vice Chairman Charles McCorkle Chris Andres, Airport Planning Administrator Commissioner David Sperling Diana Alonzo, Management Assistant Commissioner Robert Bozelli Commissioner Chad Wakefield Absent Commissioner Leo Jurgens Others in Attendance Scheduled and Unscheduled Public Appearances CHAIRMAN HAWLEY asked if there were any members of the public that would like to address the committee on any items not on the agenda. None. Approval of Minutes and Discussion 1. April 13, 2022, Minutes Move Airport Commission to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Page 2 of 8 Consent Agenda Motion and Vote COMMISSIONER SPERLING moved to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of the April 13, 2022, Seconded by VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE. Motion carried unanimously (5-0). CHAIRMAN HAWLEY stated that the minutes should not be under Consent Agenda for a single item and should be adjusted going forward. He also asked if this was the default setting from the electronic agenda. MR. REEVES responded yes. Action Agenda Item No. 2 Election of Officers 2. CHAIRMAN HAWLEY introduced item No. 2 Election of Officers Action Agenda Item No. 2 Motion and Vote COMMISSIONER SPERLING asked the Commission to entertain a motion to re-elect CHAIRMAN HAWLEY as Chair of the Commission. CHAIRMAN HAWLEY accepted the nomination. The MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Motion carried unanimously (4-0). COMMISSIONER SPERLING asked the Commission to entertain a motion to re-elect VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE as VICE CHAIRMAN of the Commission. VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE accepted the nomination. The MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Motion carried unanimously (4-0). Briefing 3. Monthly Noise Report MR. REEVES gave an overview of the monthly noise report for April 2022. In April 2022, eight (8) households made eight (8) reports. Five (5) households reported noise in the traffic pattern. Two (2) households reported low-flying aircraft. One (1) household reported Page 3 of 8 aircraft in the traffic pattern. Three (3) of the complaints did not specify the type of fixed wing aircraft and are categorized as unknown regarding the type of propulsion. Staff suspected that this may have been one (1) of several high-performance aerobatic national performers that are based at the airport. Staff confirmed aircraft reported were at or above normal approach and departure altitudes as verified through flight tracking software and air traffic control. Six (6) households were a first-time contact. COMMISSIONER SPERLING asked if the tenant has a high-performance aerobatic plane that is loud and has a certain pitch to it, are they abiding to fly friendly procedures that the airport has to keep the noise complaints down. MR. REEVES responded that he researched their flight profiles across the available tracking platforms. MR. REEVES was able to see that not only is he keeping the settings where they should be based upon on their airspeed, but he is staircasing his climb out to deconflict with traffic and he is doing it per direct ATC. He is well above the required altitude. The aggressive descent to landing, which is normal for the aircraft type, caused at least two of the reports. Staff explained to the residents that is it is the aircraft’s flight profile, and the pilot is staying close to the runway because his descent rate is higher than a standard aircraft. COMMISSIONER SPERLING asked if staff has mentioned to the tenant that there have been noise complaints. MR. REEVES responded yes that he has mentioned this directly to the tenant and he confirmed that he is doing all he can. VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE stated that he believes that he has seen an additional high- performance biplane several times and it always looks like he at a much higher altitude on the traffic pattern. There are a couple of other aircraft that he has seen also at a much higher altitude. MR. REEVES responded that he cannot attest to the other aircraft, but the aircraft in question is based at Pegasus Airpark. That aircraft does come over to utilize Chandler’s runway for his touch and goes. MR. REEVES has also spoken to that gentleman. COMMISSIONER BOZELLI asked who takes the initial information of the noise complaints. MR. REEVES responded that there is a web portal where residents can access through the website to make a noise, low-flying, increased traffic, or other reports. This is called Lucity and tenants can also use it to make maintenance requests for hangars. Once the report is submitted, it is sent to multiple Airport staff members. The majority of the time, Mr. Reeves is the person that reaches out to the resident. The resident can request a call back, email or they simply make a report. Even if they do not request a call back, staff will reach out on most reports. The Airport also has a noise Page 4 of 8 hotline in which the resident can leave a message, this line is checked every morning. The resident can also call the main line or directly call MR. REEVES. COMMISSIONER BOZELLI asked MR. REEVES if he does all the responses exclusively. MR. REEVES responded not exclusively. If he is not available, MR. ANDRES has helped out in the past, as well as operational staff. 4. Monthly Operations Report MR. REEVES gave an overview of the Monthly Operations Report for the month of April 2022 with 16,353 operations for the month and stated that operations are down by 1,000 this month as compared to last year. This is a trend that he cannot explain and will need more data to understand. The reduced number of operations is across the board. There were no runway closures in April to affect these numbers, but there will be a 7-day runway closure in May that will affect these numbers. A 180-foot crane will be going up and will be approximately 40 ft from the extended centerline at 3,000 ft beyond the approach threshold 22R. April 2021 had a total of 19,885 operations. CHD is currently ranked as 44th in the nation and 14th in the GA rankings. The total 12-month operations for April 2021 were 216,064 while for April 2022, the total number of operations are 214,224. The local standings have not changed a great deal, but staff continues to monitor how training is going. Numbers are spiking at Goodyear Airport; they have promised to put a lot of cycles around the valley. CHD has seen a slight increase in the past couple of weeks. COMMISSIONER SPERLING asked if it was Aviate Academy. MR. REEVES responded yes. COMMISSIONER SPERLING stated that he spoke to the director of Aviate and she stated that they intaking approximately 30 students a month. They will be increasing to 50 new students per month. MR. REEVES stated that you can expect Goodyear Airport to climb in operations. COMMISSIONER SPERLING stated that they made a major investment, and they are here to stay. MR. REEVES stated that Aviate is being pushed as an international program. VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE asked MR. REEVES if he believes fuel price is impacting the number of operations. Page 5 of 8 MR. REEVES responded yes, not only fuel price, but also availability. He received a couple of calls from other airports about fuel supply concerns. CHD is not currently experiencing any, but everyone is keeping it in mind. MR. REEVES shared that he will be having a meeting with Procurement the following day to secure the self-serve fuel pedestal. This should be obtained and installed in about 6-8 weeks after the order is placed. Staff is aware of how drastically the Avgas market has changed with drastic price increases and decreases. Undoubtedly, this is affecting traffic in the area, but as to what degree staff is unsure due to so much of the GA traffic in the valley being made up of industrial flight training. Fuel pricing and availability may affect cycle counts. 5. Monthly Construction Report Mr. Andres gave an overview of the Construction Report. Design Projects: The Wildlife Hazard Perimeter Fence: Staff spent the first half of the day today with the engineers going around the entire perimeter of the airport. They looked into specific areas where the fence needs to be changed, modified, or replaced. The plan is for the project to go out for bid in November. This project has 100% funding from ADOT. Arizona Pavement Management System: There will be a pre-bid visit on June 13th. That will be handled by ADOT Procurement and staff will provide escorted tours for any interested vendors after the meeting. This is project is funded by ADOT with a City contribution of 10% of project cost. The design, the construction and the construction management will be covered by ADOT. This will cover the north runway, taxiways A and B, a portion of the taxi lane extending from 4L end into the hangar complex. Construction Projects: Terminal Plumbing Renovation: The start date is May 9th. The blue staking has been completed. The construction manager expects this project to be concluded within 2 to 2 and a half months. The completion date is still estimated to conclude by the end of June or early July. This is a City funded project. Heliport Lighting Replacement: Staff is waiting on a kick-off meeting date. This will change the light poles to ground mounted lighting, as well as upgrade the wiring. This is a City funded project. MR. ANDRES shared that they are currently procuring air traffic control equipment, radios, and transceivers. Those orders have been placed and will be installed once they arrive. Page 6 of 8 6. Monthly Origins and Destinations Report The data provided the “Top 20” filed IFR Flightplans for commercial operators into and from the Chandler Municipal Airport in April 2022. These flights represent business travel utilizing CHD; 218 such flights took place in April 2022. There were two repositioning flights of note, representing 1,353 gallons of fuel. All flights represent 34,723 gallons of fuel burn enroute. Calendar 7. The next regular Airport Commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at 6:30 p.m., in the Chandler Airport Terminal, 2380 S. Stinson Way. Member Comments/Announcements CHAIRMAN HAWLEY thanked everyone for their patience as he runs the meeting virtually. He also shared that he has attended two conferences in the past couple of weeks. One was the Association of Unmanned System International, the biggest drone show in the world. The conference that he is currently attending is the Vertical Flights Society’s Annual Forum (VFS). One of the biggest trends and sources of intense interest is in all the forms of navigation, including celestial and magnetic navigation. All the backup methods to traditional navigation are being explored. The 5G interference problem that has affected CHD and other airports as well as Ukraine are two components driving this. There is a lot of discussion on what to do about these things. The biggest trends at VFS are the certification of new types of aircraft, with a record number of very unusual aircraft designs moving through FAA certification. According to media reports, about 48 hours ago, the FAA decided to raise the standards quite dramatically about how they are going to certify these aircraft and approve pilots to fly them. There is a lot of discussion on how these companies are going to certify their aircraft. Eventually, it will have implications for airports like CHD in terms of attracting business and training opportunities. COMMISSIONER BOZELLI stated that it has been over 7 months since the mid-air collision, and he has been trying to find something other than the initial report from the FAA in the way of information. He presumes that CHD has a contract control tower, which means that there is contract with the City of Chandler, but would like to know who the other end of that contract is. MR. REEVES responded that it is with the FAA. COMMISSIONER BOZELLI stated that as Commissioners they are involved and seeing what is going on, he would like to know what is going on and where they are at with the investigation. He is a controller by background and does not like how the entire thing looks. He would like to know what has been done concerning that controller(s), if they are still on duty and if any wrongdoing was found. He believes that 7 months is enough time to figure that incident out. He would also like to Page 7 of 8 know more about the contract between the control tower and the City of Chandler. He believes this information falls under the Bylaws that were discussed earlier during the Study Session on advising the City Council on the operating of the airport. He would like to add this as an agenda item to be briefed on. CHAIRMAN HAWLEY stated that it usually takes at least a year for the FAA to have a full report. He would like to have something scheduled when the report is completed. He does not want to get ahead of the NTSB. COMMISSIONER BOZELLI stated that he is aware of the preliminary report that has been published by the FAA. CHAIRMAN HAWLEY stated that maybe inviting the FAA to attest on the incident could be something that they can do, but they might get turned down. Asked MR. REEVES his thoughts on this. MR. REEVES responded that this is an active NTSB investigation, there is not a great deal that he can disclose for several reasons. He can confirm that it takes 12 months minimum to publish the final report, but can take between 18 to 24 months. They look into every single piece of an incident. This is all that he can say at this time. VICE CHAIRMAN MCCORKLE stated that taking the comments at the end for Commissioners from his understanding, they are only supposed to allow the comment. Any discussion amongst the Commissioners and Airport staff violates the code. For his comment, he seconds COMMISSIONER BOZELLI’S observation. In the past, the Tower Control manager would attend the Airport Commission and brief the Commissioners every so often. This is something he has not seen in the past year. CHAIRMAN HAWLEY stated that he liked the idea and will get with MR. REEVES about it. There is also an understanding that they may not be able to speak on certain topics, but can brief the Commission on any trends. COMMISSIONER SPERLING shared that he will not be at the next Airport Commission Meeting, he will be at the conference in Seattle. He just attended the Arizona Airport Association Conference the previous week and MR. ANDRES was elected as an Executive Director. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 8:39 p.m. ______________________________ __________________________________ Page 8 of 8 Ryan Reeves, Secretary Christopher Hawley, Chairman