Salem officials keep a wary eye on expansion of Aurora State Airport

A few years ago, an Alaska Airlines plane bound for Portland International Airport was forced to reroute due to a storm in Portland and landed at Salem Municipal Airport.

It highlighted a need.

In the Willamette Valley between Portland and Eugene, the only airport with a runway long enough to accommodate larger aircraft is Salem.

For five decades, the Aurora State Airport has been targeted for expansion of its runway to accommodate larger aircraft, and the Oregon Department of Aviation has applied for a $37 million grant with that expansion in mind.

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The plans have Salem officials keeping a watchful eye on the project. They still harbor hopes of bringing commercial service back to Salem and don't want Aurora's expansion to get in the way.

In addition, Aurora now welcomes much more traffic from smaller aviators than Salem. 

“They’re both important, and I think both can be successful.” Marion County Commissioner Kevin Cameron said. 

Salem Municipal Airport manager John Paskell said the largest area where Salem and Aurora are competitors is for private jets for businesses when they bring employees to the Willamette Valley.

“I know there are people that say Aurora is a competitor to Salem and in some ways it’s true and in some ways it’s not,” Paskell said.

Salem Municipal Airport’s longer runway is 5,811 feet, and the field also has a 5,145 feet runway; Aurora State Airport has a single 5,000 foot runway but significantly more use.

Proposed expansion

Aurora State Airport was built in 1943 by the Air Force as an air base for military training flights, but closed after World War II and was given to the state.

The airport was sparsely used – drag races were held on the runway from 1953 to 1959 – until property around the airport was developed, and it became one of the highest-traffic airports in Oregon.

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According to airnav.com, Aurora State Airport has 260 aircraft operations per day compared with 95 for Salem Municipal Airport; Aurora has 346 aircraft based at the field compared with 157 at Salem.

The State of Oregon owns 28 airports – including Independence, Lebanon and Santiam Junction outside Idanha – with Aurora the busiest, according to Matt Maass, Oregon Department of Aviation State Airport Manager.

Between the airport and businesses around it, Aurora employs a reported 1,200 people.

But due to the 5,000-foot runway length, some larger aircraft based out of Aurora take off with limited fuel and cargo, known as constrained operations.

Maass said many larger jets – such as those with 10 seats – flying out of Aurora first go to Portland International Airport or another airport to fill up with fuel before going to their eventual destination.

A study found more than 700 constrained operations of planes taking off or landing at Aurora due to the shorter runway.

The Oregon Department of Aviation applied for a $37 million grant to the Federal Aviation Administration to extend the runway to 5,901 feet.

“Keeping in mind the FAA will never fund anything on the basis of 'if you build it they will come,' right now we have enough aircraft operating at Aurora to justify it,” Maass said.

The opposition

Long before the Oregon Department of Aviation applied for the $37 million grant in August, there had been objections to the plans, and multiple groups have objected to the expansion. 

The airport is in Marion County, but also will impact Wilsonville and Clackamas County, as planes taking off from the airport fly over their municipalities. Clackamas County and Wilsonville have requested to cancel the application.

Added jobs also could negatively impact the already busy roads in the rural area and Interstate 5.

"We could add 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 jobs to the airport," Wilsonville Mayor Ted Knapp said. "How are we going to do it?"

And there are possible land-use issues. In the tentative runway extension plan, the additional 1,000 feet of runway would be on land already owned by Aurora State Airport and zoned to be used for the airport.

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But the airport would still have to purchase a plot of land south of the current airport currently zoned Exclusive Farm Use.

“What would go into the EFU land is the runway protection zone, which is a zone that we can’t have any structures or anything that’s going to cause an obstruction to airplanes that are going to take off,” Maass said.

Maass said the land to the south could be used for taxiways, or the taxiway could be built adjacent to the extended runway and would require planes to back up prior to takeoff to use the full 5,901 feet for takeoff. 

The requisite Conditional Use zoning would be brought to Marion County.

One conditional use review criteria for re-zoning EFU land is noise associated with the use must not have adverse impact on nearby land uses.

Cameron, who has spoken in support of the expansion, said the Marion County Commissioners would consider the zoning changes if they are brought to the commission.

During the 2018 State Congressional session, State Representative Rick Lewis of Silverton put forth a bill that would have established new standards for expansion of state airports onto land zoned Exclusive Farm Use, but the bill died in committee.

Why does smaller Aurora have more flights than Salem?

Air traffic has grown substantially at Aurora State Airport over the years due to the large development of businesses near the airport.

Aviation-related businesses have thrived at Aurora Airport, in part due to the airport’s proximity to Portland and lower costs compared with other smaller airports like Hillsboro and Troutdale.

If larger aircraft could land at Aurora, it could bring in additional aircraft-related businesses.

“In the actual business of aviation, it’s growing like crazy anyway,” Salem Pilots Association board member David O’Keefe said. “For me, I could not see how it would impact Salem negatively.”

In fact, O’Keefe said some pilots choose not to fly to Aurora because it is busier than similar regional airports.

Scott Kelley, a recreational pilot who formerly flew frequently out of Aurora, said construction of the fight control tower in 2015 at Aurora State Airport had a bigger impact than the expansion of a runway would for airplane traffic.

“I don’t see an extension of that runway really having any significant effect on other pilots,” Kelley said.

Commercial flights

Since Horizon Air stopped commercial service at Salem Municipal Airport in 1993, there have been numerous, short-lived returns to commercial service, the last in 2011.

A group of civic leaders including Salem Area Chamber of Commerce is trying to bring back passenger service and is seeking nearly $2 million to do so.

“Salem obviously would be the right place for any addition of commercial aircraft,” Cameron said. “Aurora is not looking for commercial aircraft at all.”

A concern raised by opponents of Aurora’s expansion is if the runway is expanded could commercial service be brought there instead of Salem.

Paskell points out the challenges faced with returning commercial service to Salem – higher ticket prices and lack of choice in arrivals and departures compared with Portland International Airport – would make it difficult for an airline to justify moving operations to Aurora.

And Aurora doesn’t have a terminal or an on-site fire department, things required for commercial service.

“It’s very difficult because you can get a ticket in Portland for 40 percent less than it would cost to fly out of Salem,” Maass said. “I can never say never, but I’m probably 99.9 percent positive we would never have commercial service at Aurora.”

What’s next?

With so many civic bodies trying to get involved in the dispute, the Oregon State Legislature Emergency Review Board voted to send the matter to Oregon Solutions, a dispute resolution program at Portland State University to mediate.

Bennett requested Salem be included in any discussions, but the city hasn’t been informed if it will be included. Other civic bodies such as Marion County, Clackamas County, Aurora and Wilsonville also want to be part of the resolution. 

“As of today (October 24) I have had no contact from Oregon Solutions,” Knapp said. “Oregon Solutions has a history of doing a lot of good in this state. The timetable they have to bring this back in December is extremely short.”

The matter is expected to be brought back to a state legislature meeting in December.

bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler