By Mark Carlisle
Twitter: @mwcarlisle

The Glendale Municipal Airport saw a drop in activity, and therefore revenue, due to the coronavirus epidemic, but the airport will remain in the black thanks to Congressional relief funds allocated to airports for the coronavirus pandemic.

The airport is budgeted to break exactly even, with both revenues and expenditures set at $854,9S16 in the city budget. However, an economic update through April showed the airport short on revenues and slightly over budget on expenses.

Through April, airport revenues are $641,918 and expenditures are $732,966 — a $91,000 deficit. If both continue at the same pace, the deficit will reach $110,000 by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

In his presentation to the Glendale Aviation Advisory Commission, Airport Manager Carl Newman said the expenditures being over budget don’t tell the full story because the airport has been spending additional one-time funds allocated to it by the city for construction work but that won’t be officially added to the budget until the end of the fiscal year. The funds, about $74,500, are being used to perform crack seal work on the taxiway, replace old faded signs on the runway and taxiway, add shade screen for the airport tower and repair the north stairwell on the terminal building, Mr. Newman said in an email to Independent Newsmedia.

Even with the $74,500 revenue boost, the airport would still be in the red without help from Congress. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or CARES Act, which pumped $2 trillion dollars into various parts of the U.S. economy to combat business shutdowns deemed necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus. U.S. airports received $10 billion of that money, $69,000 of which was given to the Glendale Airport.

That $69,000 from Congress plus the extra $74,500 from the city puts the airport back in the black. Factoring in those funds, the airport has a $52,000 surplus through April which is projected to reduce to a $34,000 surplus at the end of June if the same airport trends continue.

Airport revenue may rebound after a particularly bad month in April, where the airport saw an 11% drop in flights in April compared to the same month in 2019, with the drop in flights mainly coming from flight training and corporate activity. Mr. Newman said airport activity was ahead of schedule before the virus hit. As shutdown rules are relaxed and people become more comfortable venturing out of their homes again, airport activity, and revenues, should trend back toward the rates they were at before the virus.

The airport has changed the way it does business during the pandemic. The airport’s administration office is closed to the public. Administrative staff has been working remotely via email, phone and the post office. Field staff continues its normal operations with physical distancing measures in place. Mr. Newman said he anticipates a return to full operations around mid-June.

The CARES Act funds from Congress will be used for operations and maintenance at the airport and some of it will pay for staff time and utilities, Mr. Newman said.

“We can’t use it for capital projects without jumping through a bunch of hoops,” he told the Aviation Commission.

Mark Carlisle
Associate Editor | Daily Independent
@mwcarlisle

mcarlisle@iniusa.org

Mark is passionate about accurately informing his readers to what is happening in their community. He also loves reading and writing about sports. Mark has worked for Independent Newsmedia for five years. He married his high school sweetheart, adopted a boxer mix, and awaits his first child.