The MoDOT Aviation Section recently completed an update of the State Airport System Plan (SASP). The document provides a statewide plan for guiding airport development in Missouri. It provides input into the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), individual airport master plans and MoDOT’s long-range transportation plan, called Missouri Advance Planning (MAP). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) uses the NPIAS as a basis for funding decisions, and MAP guides the state in transportation investment evaluations.
The primary goal of the State Airport System Plan is to build consensus among public policy makers and airport representatives to assist in implementing the plan’s recommendations. In order to accomplish this goal, objectives were developed to measure the performance of the airport system in the areas of:
- physical performance, economic benefit, and
- ease of accessibility for each airport.
How each airport compared to specific benchmarks in each performance measure helped determine the system’s performance and where improvements are needed.
Of the 114 airports included in the SASP, eight airports support regularly scheduled air carrier activities. The remaining 106 airports serve a multitude of general aviation activities. In addition to serving as a business access point for corporations and suppliers, Missouri’s airports support health, welfare and safety-related activities that expand on a community’s quality of life.
The Missouri State Airport System Plan provides the Aviation Section an important tool that can be used to monitor the ability of airports to meet customer needs. The plan also provides a way to measure the effects of investment on the performance of the Missouri aviation system.
It is estimated that at least $464.8 million will be needed over the next 20 years if airports in Missouri are to respond to objectives set by the system plan. Additionally, when individual airport capital improvement projects are included, an additional $140.3 million will be needed over the 20-year planning period for a total investment need of $605.1 million if all needs are to be met. These costs do not include projects at Kansas City International, Lambert-St. Louis International or the new terminal area at Springfield Branson National Airport.
In addition to the SASP, an economic impact analysis was conducted to calculate aviation’s contribution to the state and local economies. The economic impact analysis examined each airport’s benefits in terms of jobs, payroll and output, which refers to spending.
In total, Missouri’s general aviation airports contribute over $1 billion in economic impact to the state’s economy. The economic benefit provided from Missouri’s eight commercial service airports, including Kansas City and Lambert St. Louis International, is even more dramatic, with more than $8 billion in economic impact in the state.
A third component conducted concurrently with the SASP and economic impact analysis was a pavement management plan. Initially starting as a pilot program, the pavement management plan was expanded to evaluate pavement conditions at 66 of Missouri’s public-use airports. By evaluating the condition of pavement and projecting future pavement condition, airport sponsors and MoDOT can identify the most economical time to apply pavement maintenance and rehabilitation.
