By Adam Pack
The Greenbrier County Airport Authority met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 17, at 2 p.m. The authority briefly discussed an incident which occurred at LWB earlier this month. According to Airport Director Brian Belcher, “an aircraft landed, got a flat tire, lost traction and slid into the grass. No one was hurt in the incident, and we immediately reported the incident to the FAA. We gave them a report, which is pretty standard operating procedure, telling them everything that happened as well as the weather at the time and such. We recently heard back from the FAA saying that they have everything they need from us at this point.”
The authority also discussed issues with new flight service provider Contour Airlines, noting an uptick in recent flight cancellations. “Up until Dec. 5 we had one cancellation [from the beginning of Contour’s service]; since Dec. 5 we’ve had 11.” Belcher and other members of the authority have spoken to Contour executives about this issue, and Belcher relayed that Contour claims that five were due to maintenance issues, five were weather related, and one other cancellation with no explanation provided to the Authority.
Belcher explained, “It’s more operational issues in Charlotte that they were having with aircraft. This is not just here, its growing pains that Contour is feeling across their service area because they just took on nine cities. We’re just going to have to work through it for now.”
As a sign of better things to come, however, Belcher was able to inform the authority that materials for the foundation of the new entrance sign will be arriving on Jan. 20, and work will begin to place that foundation when the weather permits. “Stonework is very moisture and weather dependent, but we have the sign scheduled to be completed in May and we’re hoping they can beat that,” said Parrish & Partners engineer Jon McCalmont.
Belcher also mentioned that Almost Heaven Taxi Service has presented the airport with all documents, and that they have been approved by the Public Service Commission. The company is also requesting to lease a 10 foot by 10 foot area in the lobby corner to install a desk and chair for business use. Given that the space requested does not interrupt TSA traffic flow regulations, the authority is open to hearing the lease request at a later date.
The authority also retrospectively authorized the purchase of a compressor for the heating unit on the south end of the main terminal totaling $13,373.38. Chairwoman Deborah Phillips authorized the purchase last month via emergency powers, saying “it was Christmas, temperatures were getting down to zero, people were freezing, so I went ahead and made the emergency purchase.”
