Airport master plan unveiled

Las Cruces International Airport Administrator Andy Hume said when he looks out his window toward the airstrip he doesn’t “see a couple thousand acres of mesquite and brush.” Instead, he sees the vision that is laid out in a draft master plan for the facility.

That vision is: “the Las Cruces International Airport is a thriving, well-connected aviation and commercial aerospace gateway to the city of Las Cruces, the region and beyond, providing access and economic opportunity.” 

Hume presented the master plan to the Las Cruces City Council during a work session on Monday. Because it was a work session, the council did not take action on it this week. However, Hume said he hopes to bring the master plan back to the council for action in the near future.

Some of the projects involved in that vision include extending runways, renovating the terminal and expanding parking. 

These could be expensive undertakings. Hume said runway extension projects can cost tens of millions of dollars.

“We would seek grants for those. We would work with the state legislature for funding on those,” he said.

Hume said funding could also be available through the Federal Aviation Administration.

Hume said the airport also linked its master plan process to the Las Cruces Innovation and Industrial Park plan. The park is separated from the airport by a fence. Bringing high speed internet to the airport and the park could help with economic development, Hume said.

Las Cruces Economic Development Director Elizabeth Teeters said both the airport master plan and the plans for the industrial park highlight the need for infrastructure.

She said her department will be collaborating with the airport to determine types of businesses they could attract to the industrial park that need airport access.

The master plan incorporates lessons the airport learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, including that “we can't have all of our eggs in one basket. We need to have a diverse approach to how we operate our airport,” Hume said.

He said during the pandemic, military flights stopped across the country, including in Las Cruces.

“When we saw a decline in that, we saw actually an increase in medical traffic, which actually has continued to this day,” he said.

Hume said the master plan looks at expanding passenger air service, continuing support of general aviation, growing the commercial aerospace and supporting training programs, including those at the New Mexico State University.

Hume expressed hope that soon people will be able to fly from Las Cruces to Phoenix and possibly one day to Dallas-Fort Worth.

“We want to connect Las Cruces to New Mexico, the world and beyond,” he said.

Hume said the airport will need to have a terminal capable of accommodating larger aircraft and will need to provide a minimum revenue guarantee to get service started between Las Cruces and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Councilor Becky Corran questioned plans to expand service to Phoenix and Dallas. She said a big investment into the airport to support the expanded service doesn’t necessarily “reflect what some of our values are or our biggest and most pressing needs.”

“I just sort of want to beg a question of what kind of investments should we make and what population is this serving and what’s the ultimate impact that we want to make with money,” she said. 

Corran said the master plan is ambitious and has budget implications that need to be considered.

Councilor Yvonne Flores said she sees the airport as an economic development issue.

“We need a lot of money in other areas, without a doubt,” she said. “But this is a gold mine and this is something that we should prioritize.”

The master plan was funded through a $270,000 grant from the New Mexico Department of Transportation and involved a lengthy public input period.

“Having a robust public input process is absolutely essential, and we did so with our airport master planning process,” Hume said. “We made sure that we reached out to a wide variety of key stakeholders.” 

Hume said the public expressed interest in additional fueling options at the airport. He gave the example of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

“The development of that aircraft is really speeding up and so having electric capabilities for fueling is going to be really critical moving forward,” he said.