Regional Airports Critical to Research Valley
Published Jan 24, 2008
Easterwood Airport is one of three Fixed Base Operations serving corporate jets in the Research Valley.
There was a time when business travel meant long, lonely hours in a company car on the road – a four-lane highway if you were lucky. Air travel was a bonus for salesmen who exceeded their quotas, and corporate airplanes were a status symbol.
Those days, however, are disappearing as rapidly as the eight-track tape deck in an Oldsmobile Cutlass. In today’s global economy, air travel is a way of life – and even that is moving at a steadily increasing pace.
And that’s a good thing for The Research Valley.
With three FBOs (Fixed Base Operations), including Easter wood Regional Airport in College Station, and a half-dozen more airfields, today’s Research Valley business travelers can be prac tically anywhere in the world in hours. The flip side is also true.
“The regional airports are critical to our infrastructure,” says Todd McDaniel, president and chief executive officer of The Research Valley Partnership. “It really is an opportunity to connect to anywhere in the world. We have some major industrial projects going on, and we have executives that can fly, say, directly from Tokyo to Dallas or Houston and then here. Having to make only two stops is a key factor in bringing in corporate leadership to The Research Valley.”
Coulter Field in Bryan and Brenham Municipal also offer FBOs, and there are airfields in Madisonville, Caldwell, Navasota, Huntsville and Hearne.
John Happ, director of aviation at Easterwood Airport, says it’s not only foreign companies that depend on air service. “I can tell you that Sanderson Farms would not be [in Bryan] if the airfield weren’t here,” Happ says. “They’re in and out of here an average of four or five times a week. There are any number of companies that depend on us. In today’s business environment, it’s practically impossible to get any where fast in Texas, especially on I-35 or I-45. That’s driving the growth in business air travel.”
McDaniel says that for a university as large as Texas A&M, facilities such as Easterwood and Coulter Field are vital. “We are constantly trying to connect higher education with private industry. Texas A&M is involved in several strategic projects, and being able to offer the air services we do is a big plus.”
Jack Hess, who operates the down-home Brenham Municipal Airport, says regional airports and FBOs are often more economical for business travel. “Usually, fuel prices and other fees are better at smaller airports. When every little thing has to be calculated, it makes a big difference. If you need to travel to The Research Valley, we can take care of you wherever you go.”
Story by Danny McKenzie
Photo by Todd Bennett
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