With rapid growth, Phoenix Goodyear Airport will update master plan after just 6 years

By Mark Carlisle
Mail | X: @mwcarlisle

The Phoenix Goodyear Airport has gone through a lot of changes in recent years, and more are on the horizon.

With big activity, big changes are needed in the airport’s master plan

The current plan was developed in 2018, designed to guide the airport through 2036. However, Airport Manager Bradley Hagen said in just six years, it is no longer the same airport.

“Really a lot has changed at Goodyear since then,” Hagen told a Phoenix Aviation subcommittee last week.

Bradley Hagen

The Phoenix Goodyear Airport has seen a 173% increase in operations since 2018 and a 26% increase in aircraft based at the airport, Hagen said. He and his staff are beginning to develop a new master plan, which will be the airport’s guiding document for the next two decades.

“This new master plan will give us a fresh look at everything at the airport,” Hagen said. “And it will also enable us to have a lot of extensive outreach to all of the different stakeholders and the public to get their ideas as well.”

The airport is considered an economic hub in the West Valley, with a 2021 economic impact study from the Arizona Department of Transportation putting its economic impact at about $74.6 million annually with more than 1,000 jobs in flight training, aerospace research, maintenance and other activities.

This map shows publicly-funded projects planned at Phoenix Goodyear Airport. (Courtesy city of Phoenix)

Hagen highlighted several changes already in the works. The city of Phoenix, which owns and operates the airport, plans to spend $46 million in public dollars on projects to enhance safety and increase aircraft parking at Goodyear, “which we really need,” Hagen said. Most of that money is through grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Arizona Department of Transportation.

A new aircraft parking apron is planned that will accommodate two Boeing 767s. The airport will repave a portion of an existing apron with deteriorating asphalt that is around 80 years old. The airport’s T-hangar apron, which includes six rows of hangers and two rows of covered tie-downs that accommodates about 94 aircraft total, will be rehabilitated.

An ongoing project is paving the airport’s infield. Right now, the areas between the runways and taxiways are native soil. Hagen said paving the areas, some of which were done last year while some will be paved next year, will improve safety.

“That will prevent erosion, eliminate wildlife activity and eliminate the need for our team to go out to cut weeds and grass close to our runway,” he said.

This map shows private projects planned at Phoenix Goodyear Airport. (Courtesy city of Phoenix)

Hagen also presented recent private investments at the airport for the Planning and Development Subcommittee. An air cargo facility is planned on 28 acres, corporate hangars are planned on 10 acres and more corporate hangars along with maintenance hangars are planned on 30 acres.

The airport’s largest flight school, United Aviate Academy, leases 26 acres. Hagen said the company has done a lot to invest in the airport in the two and half years it has been in Goodyear, renovating nearly every building it has – most of which were built between the 1940s and 1970s.

Hagen said he hopes that private investment is just a start for the airport in the Southwest Valley.

“With all the development coming west through Goodyear and Buckeye, we hope to have more interest very soon,” he said.

The city of Goodyear is looking at development around the airport, including industrial parks capable of hosting distribution centers and more.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Mark Carlisle can be reached at mcarlisle@iniusa.org.

Mark Carlisle
Associate Editor | Phoenix

mcarlisle@iniusa.org

Meet Mark

Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.

Community: Mark enjoys taking his two young sons to parks, the Phoenix Zoo, the Phoenix Public Library  and other fun events around the Valley. He also participates in a local book club.

Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.

Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.

 Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, sons and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.