Frederick says regional airport will also have to deal with fog

By Mark Scott

While Fayetteville’s Drake Field periodically has problems with fog, the new Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport near Highfill will not be fogless either, Fayetteville Airport Manager Dale Frederick said this week.

Frederick, upset with recent statements by regional-airport officials claiming their airport will be safer and more efficient, sounded off this week. Frederick addressed his airport’s efficiency record, which he said is more efficient than many major airports.

When Drake Field was experiencing fog problems Saturday morning, a curious Frederick drove to the new airport site, proposed for completion in late 1998. He said visibility was less than 200 feet there and planes would not have been able to land.

“The fact is it gets foggy at the new airport the same as it does here,” Frederick said. “I don’t want people to believe that the Highfill area is a fog-free area, because it’s not.”

Regional-airport spokesman Scott Van Laningham said he expected all plane-stopping weather conditions to be less severe in Highfill because of geography. While Drake Field is surrounded by mountains and water, Van Laningham said, the new airport site will be relatively flat and have a higher elevation, causing better weather conditions.

“Sure, there are times in Northwest Arkansas when we all have fog,” Van Laningham said. “We don’t really have the control tower set up yet to check visibility, but we’ve found weather problems are not as severe up here. From our spot checks, we’ve not been fogged in nearly as much.”

Comparing the two airports, Van Laningham said, “we have said that the new airport is going to be bigger, better and safer (than Drake Field).”

Frederick said he takes that statement as an attack on Drake Field’s efficiency record.

“We’re mandated to protect and improve our airport,” Frederick said. “When people speak bad and boast it’s not as safe as another airport, they just don’t know the industry. This business of building a safer airport is not right. When people talk about Drake’s inability, they basically have other agendas.”

Frederick said Drake Field has been open 98 percent of the time during the past 10 years.

“I don’t think Chicago could boast that,” he said.

While it may appear the new, larger airport will take passengers away from Drake Field, Frederick says he expects little passenger loss. He said studies show most passengers departing from Drake are from Fayetteville, and the Fayetteville people will continue to choose Drake Field.

“This new airport, I would like to look at it as an opportunity rather than a problem,” Frederick said. “It disturbs me when people feel you have to compromise Drake Field. They think this new airport is going to replace Drake Field, and that’s erroneous.”

Regional-airport officials say a majority of air passengers, including the ones from Fayetteville, will choose their airport.

“We’ve said all along that some of the commuters may stay in Fayetteville, but we’d let the marketplace decide that,” Van Laningham said. “We think most if not all of the carriers will eventually end up at our airport.”

Frederick disagrees.

“I believe as long as you have a carrier airport that is paid for and can have reasonable rates provided to our passengers, we’ll continue to grow,” he said. “We’ve done surveys that show most of our passengers are from Fayetteville and will stay here. As long as we’ve got that, we’ll have air service in Fayetteville. Our surveys show we will.”

In an attempt to ensure growth, Fayetteville airport officials participated in a campaign last month to provide direct service from Drake Field to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

American Eagle, the regional affiliate of American Airlines and Drake Field’s largest carrier, announced plans to offer nonstop regional jet service between Chicago and 10 non-hub cities, including Fayetteville. The new service is pending, subject to obtaining new hub-access slots at O’Hare, a decision to be made by the U.S. Department of Transportation.