Federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) at Work

"An airport is the front door to every community in this country," says Larry Mullendore, airport director for The Eastern Iowa Airport. Serving Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this airport is classified as a small hub, and it’s served by seven airlines and four cargo carriers. Almost 500,000 people board commercial airplanes there every year.

It’s also one of the largest General Aviation (GA) airports in Iowa. About 150 GA aircraft, including corporate jets and privately owned aircraft, are based at the airport.

Cedar Rapids is home to more than 2,500 small businesses as well as large companies such as Rockwell Collins, McLeodUSA, Cargill, ADM, Penford, Quaker Oats, and Alliant Energy. Cedar Rapids’ Mayor Paul D. Pate says, "One of the most important aspects of city government is economic development. Our ability to attract and retain national and international businesses can be attributed to the success of our airport."

A large portion of the success of The Eastern Iowa Airport can be attributed to AIP funds. From 1990 to 2004, $38 million was granted to this airport from AIP. "That money has funded 15 to 20 major projects," says Mullendore. "For example, we’ve expanded and renovated our runways and cargo ramps, improved our runway safety areas, and purchased new airport rescue and firefighting vehicles." Mullendore says that nearly half of the Airport’s capital funding comes from AIP; the remainder is self-generated. He says, "Our funding comes from the airlines and airline users, concession operators, concession fees, and General Aviation users."

The airport provides nearly 700 jobs, and its business park hosts Seattle-based Nordstrom, Inc.’s 300,000-square-foot facility that will handle 98 percent of the company’s catalog orders. FedEx has a 90,000-square-foot air cargo facility. More than 23,000 tons of cargo a year comes to the airport.

Mayor Pate says, "The airport is extremely important to us. We work with our Congressional delegation to do everything we can to strengthen our Airport. In fact, we just got our first low-cost airline — ATA. So our airport is not just an economic issue — it’s a quality of life issue too."