ST. GEORGE — The St. George Regional Airport is set to receive $1.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from the federal government.
“The grant is meant to help with costs associated with operations, maintenance and debt repayment,” said Rich Stehmeier, manager of St. George Regional Airport.
The funds come as the pandemic’s effects are coming clear. These include the cancellation of thousands of flights nationwide and fewer travelers.
“In April of 2020, our business fell off by about 90%,” Stehmeier said. “We went from 30,000 passengers a month to about 3,000.”
That compelled airlines to make the difficult decision to lay off some employees and offer early retirement to others, like pilots, Stehmeier added.
The latter action fed into the difficulties the industry faced as business rebounded faster than expected. After offering early retirement to about 30% of their senior pilots, of which about 30% accepted, airlines industrywide had trouble filling those vacancies when their business started to pick up again.
“Hiring new pilots is time consuming,” Stehmeier said. “They’ve got to log 1,000-1,500 hours of flight time before they’re eligible for those jobs.”
Stehmeier said that the funds will be used for services, upgrades and personnel, among others. One such service is keeping the airport clean, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Even during the leanest time of the pandemic, Stehmeier said he didn’t have to lay off any of the airport’s employees. In fact, he’ll be looking to hire two new employees, once the funds are available for use.
Though the Omicron variant is slowing the recovery for airlines — St. George Regional Airport usually sees 14 roundtrip flights per day, but this month there are only eight — Stehmeier said that he expects Spring of 2022 to pick up, due to the various annual events St. George hosts each year. The airport will also be adding flights to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas, in March, after American Airlines nixed the flight in November.
“Those events bring a lot of travelers through here,” Stehmeier said. “When St. George does well, we do well.”
Though the grant was signed in November, and the City Council voted on it as part of their consent calendar Nov. 18, Stehmeier said he doesn’t know exactly when the funds will be available.
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