Daniel Bayer
   Staff Writer

Executive director of Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTIA) Kevin Baker cited the airport’s contributions to the local economy last Tuesday as he asked the Greensboro City Council’s Economic Development Committee to approve a resolution authorizing $2.5 million in future funding for expansion of the airport.

“We have two missions, to improve the passenger experience and stimulate the local

economy,” said Baker. “The airport is an incredible place for investment.”

The airport has been a significant economic driver for the local area in recent years, including the decision by Honda Aircraft Company to locate its world headquarters there in 2007.

“We want to be the Wichita of the next century,” said Baker, referring to the Kansas city that has become a hub of aerospace development. “We want to bring that to the east coast—without the labor problems.”

According to figures provided by PTIA, the airport and its related businesses provide 5,000 jobs with an average salary of $60-65,000 a year, higher than Guilford County’s median income of $45,000 a year.

The workers pay a combined state payroll tax of $20.4 million a year, enough to fund the state’s investment in all the state’s other airports combined, said Baker, and 60 percent of the workers live in Guilford County.

“If you assume that half of these workers own homes and the median value of a home in Guilford County is $153,000, that’s $725,000 in property taxes every year,” Baker noted. A further 8,000 local workers – including engineers, accountants and lawyers – are indirectly employed as a result of the airport, he said.

Expanding the airport is necessary to lure and retain more industries, said Baker.

“If we can’t do that, off they go to Wichita,” he said.

The airport is perfectly sited to take advantage of the growing transportation network in western Guilford County, including the new interstate I-73 and the Greensboro urban loop, whose northern section is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

Baker claimed that the key to the expansion is a new taxiway that will open up land to the northwest of the airport.

“Look at the size of that shape,” said Baker, using a laser pointer to highlight a tract of land visible on an aerial photo of the airport as he made his PowerPoint presentation.

The $2.5 million from the city will go to developing water, sewer and transportation infrastructure for the expansion. The airport does not use any local tax money for its operating budget, Baker specified, though it does receive some funding from the North Carolina and federal government.

Committee member and city councilman Mike Barber asked Baker if the airport promoted its comparative advantages over airports in Charlotte and the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area.

“We’re at the mercy of the airlines. We can’t set ticket prices,” said Baker. “What we can do is point out all the things that we do better than Raleigh or Charlotte.”

Currently, half of the people who should fly out of PTIA based on their geographical proximity currently go to Charlotte or Raleigh, mostly due to lower ticket prices, he said.

Other questions from committee members included what efforts the airport was making to service those who visit High Point’s biannual furniture markets.

“It’s estimated that 80,000 people come to the furniture markets,” said committee member Tony Wilkins, who represents Greensboro’s District Five on the council. “How many of those fly into our airport?”

“The furniture markets are very important customers,” said Baker. “We do anything we can to help them bring passengers here. The more benefits we can provide, the more competitive we can be.”

Following more discussion, the committee voted to send the resolution to the full council, with only Wilkins voting no.