Rogers Airport Grows With Wal-Mart?s Help

One of the busiest general aviation airports in Arkansas is about to undergo a major construction phase.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to spend about $10 million over the next five years to construct two buildings — a hangar and a fixed-base operator (sort of the equivalent of an airport gas station) — at Rogers Municipal Airport/Carter Field.

If work begins soon, the fixed-base operator, or FBO, could be finished by end of the year, said Maurice Kolman, director of transportation and planning for Rogers.

First, the current, 15,000-SF FBO building will most likely be torn down to make way for the new building and parking. Wal-Mart hasn’t submitted a large-scale development plan to the Rogers Planning Commission, so the size of the proposed buildings isn’t known yet, Kolman said. Wal-Mart currently has four hangars at the airport.

In addition, the city recently received an $800,000 grant to repave the 6,000-foot runway. That work should be completed over two weeks in the summer.

Control Tower

Airport officials plan to either build or buy a control tower and have it in operation in 2002. The height of the tower has yet to be determined, but it will need to be 50-90 feet tall, Kolman said. The city recently purchased 11 acres adjacent to the airport for a location for the tower. The entire airport encompasses some 400 acres.

Having the new tower will require the hiring of four air traffic controllers and a supervisor. The city will pay 40 percent of those salaries and the federal government will pick up the remainder.

Rogers won’t buy the control tower from Drake Field in Fayetteville because it is still leased for use there even though the five commercial airlines left Drake Field for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in 1999.

Currently, the Rogers airport relies on air traffic controllers in Fort Smith. The new tower will allow operations to run more smoothly in Rogers.

“Sometimes Wal-Mart has 18 jets out at one time, and they’re up on the runway … burning gas,” Kolman said.

Twenty-six jets are among the 125 airplanes that operate from the Rogers airport. Wal-Mart owns about 21 of those jets. The airport will also be home to a $50 million Global Express jet that Wal-Mart plans to buy. The Global Express will allow direct, non-stop flights from Rogers to cities in Europe.

History

The Rogers airport was opened in the 1940s as a private runway belonging to C. Jimmy Carter. In the 1950s, Carter Field became city property. In the early 1970s, the runway was paved, and, in 1973, it was extended to its current 6,000 feet. In the 1980s, the taxiway was extended to the same length as the runway.

There are 60 hangars at the airport, 19 of which are owned by the city.

The Rogers airport had 53,600 “operations” last year. An “operation” is either a takeoff or a landing. The number of operations is expected to increase to about 60,000 this year.

Kolman said Wal-Mart had been using the airport for chartered flights since about 1985. The airport is closer than XNA to Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Kolman said, so it’s more convenient for Wal-Mart executives and vendors.

“It’s pretty advantageous for both of us,” Kolman said, referring to the airport’s relationship with the world’s largest retailer.