Sooner or Slater
by January 25, 1999 12:00 am 89 views
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater flew into Fayetteville’s Drake Field for the Jan. 8 dedication of U.S. Interstate 540 instead of using the new Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill. Slater flew in on Northwest Airlink and departed from Drake on U.S. Air.
We find it interesting that Slater chose Drake, according to his travel office, because it “was more convenient to his destination,” which was the Bobby Hopper Tunnel near Winslow. This comes after all the bureaucratic crowing at the Nov. 6 dedication of the Regional Airport about how conveniently located the new airport at Highfill is.
Slater flew into Highfill on Air Force One for that event as part of President Bill Clinton’s entourage. Apparently, for the highway dedication, Slater didn’t want to have to drive an hour to get from the new airport to Winslow.
A private plane carrying Gov. Mike Huckabee and Arkansas Economic Development Commission Director Barbara Pardue also flew into Drake for the Jan. 8 highway ceremony. In addition to the I-540 dedication, the governor’s entourage was on hand to present a check for $1.8 million to regional airport authority chairman Stan Green for the development of the Arkansas Aviation Technology Center.
The center, when completed, will be located in a hangar at Drake Field.
It’s interesting that despite the fact that the Highfill airport has gotten three of Drake’s five major air carriers and $29.5 million of federal support for the next five years, Drake is still a prime destination for many travelers.