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Old 11-15-2015, 07:48 PM
 
979 posts, read 3,662,417 times
Reputation: 601

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I think it is great news for Williston that they are in the process of getting a new airport.
I find it interesting that one of the "county" commissioners is dead fast against it and another is also somewhat against it because of the loss of farmland.
One county commissioner says it is better to basically rebuild the airport at the current site that would involve shutting down the airport for nearly 2 years during the reconstruction and involves removing a golf course, 80 foot hills and moving major powerlines, in order to just extend the runway. Not to mention building a new terminal, widening the runway, relocating the taxiways and come up with a plan to expand and build convenient parking in a very limited area. The reasoning is because farmers land would be purchased and replaced with an airport. The cost ends up being similar whether they rebuild in the current location vs. rebuild in a new location according to the FAA, for which the majority of funding will come.

This same commissioner suggests WILLISTON should consider building their new airport in McKenzie county (Watford City) or somewhere in between Watford City, WIlliston and Sidney to make it more convenient as a regional airport. WHY would Williston want to build and maintain their airport in McKenzie county???
A regional airport is just that, regional. Most regional airports like Minot, Bismarck, Williston, Fargo, Billings, Dickinson, etc... are considered regional airports and located in the city that services and maintains them. People will drive to the closest airport in their region. Building a new airport 25 miles outside of Williston, Watford and Sidney would make no sense since there are no services such as taxi, shuttle, hotels, restaurants, etc... 25 miles outside of these towns. Williston is building their airport in Williston, because it will be serviced and maintained by Williston and the services already available in Williston.

Now the airport administrator in MINOT is weighing in his opinion. He thinks the relocation plan for Williston should maybe be re-evaluated because the decision and approval from the FAA was made before the slow down in the oil industry. THIS being said, HIS airport in Minot is in the process of building a very large new terminal that is nearly twice the size of Bismarck's and new expanded parking, yet Minot's boardings are less than Bismarck's and have dropped off significantly with not just the slow down in the oil industry, but more so because Minot has lost a large amount of boardings to Williston since Williston now has 9 daily jet flights to and from Minneapolis, Denver and Houston. I'm questioning if the airport administrator in Minot is truly concerned about Williston making a bad decision? Or has an agenda that he hopes will benefit his airport in Minot at the expense of Williston's airport. I'm pretty sure his reasoning is not in the best interest of people in Williston. I think people in Williston are tired of driving all the way to Minot to catch a flight. Now that Williston has gained jet service to the same cities as Minot, why would Williston citizens want to jeopardize their options and have to revert to traveling 130 miles one way to Minot.? Makes no sense.

I am curious what the people of WILLISTON think about a new airport in a new location vs. rebuilding the airport at the current location.

Article from one county commissioner opposed to a new airport.
http://www.willistonherald.com/busin...e172d1b44.html

Comment and suggestion from Minot Airports administrator
Solsvig Says It Might Be Good Time to Reevaluate Options for Williston Airport
Interesting he says the FAA approved this from estimates "years" ago...however, the FAA just gave their final approval about a month ago and granted the city of Williston 27million towards purchasing of land and design. So the FAA is obviously aware of what is currently happening in Williston.



Location of new airport
http://www.flywilliston.net/usrfiles...t_Location.pdf

Video of what the New Williston airport will be like
https://www.facebook.com/22773967390...0/?pnref=story

Current passenger boardings for North Dakota airport
http://www.grandforksherald.com/news...akota-airports

Last edited by Roloff1976; 11-15-2015 at 08:06 PM..
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Old 11-20-2015, 12:03 PM
 
10,275 posts, read 10,268,285 times
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What happens when the oil boom ends? Abandoned airport? There's nothing out there that would warrant an international airport.
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Old 11-20-2015, 05:02 PM
 
1,870 posts, read 1,892,179 times
Reputation: 1384
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roloff1976 View Post
I am curious what the people of WILLISTON think about a new airport in a new location vs. rebuilding the airport at the current location.
I think it will be an opportunity to build support facilities that cannot be built in the current airport.

-o- Decent parking
-o- Rental car facilities
-o- Check-in and security and waiting areas that aren't just afterthoughts
-o- All-weather boarding on enclosed ramps that don't require stairs
-o- Adequate runway space for adult-sized planes like the 737 and A320 with 1st Class seating
Quote:
Originally Posted by NOLA101 View Post
What happens when the oil boom ends? Abandoned airport? There's nothing out there that would warrant an international airport.
Just when are you predicting that end?

The airport will be built and paid for in a few years, yet the oil production could last decades.

The most important thing that isn't being mentioned anywhere is that once the airport moves to the green-field site, the old airport will be the best real estate in town. They can leave the old tarmac there and make a wide commercial boulevard with trees and walking paths ... who knows?

Most of the people who use the current airport drive 5-10-more miles to use it. Moving it a couple of miles away, but making it much easier to use it will be a big improvement.
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Old 11-26-2015, 09:29 AM
 
Location: C-U metro
1,368 posts, read 3,206,923 times
Reputation: 1192
I'd second the commercial boulevard. Given the large number of hotel rooms in the area, a mall or commercial area with an indoor waterpark would be a great development.
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Old 11-27-2015, 09:02 PM
 
Location: Overland Park, Kansas
767 posts, read 1,312,594 times
Reputation: 781
Quote:
Originally Posted by IDtheftV View Post
I think it will be an opportunity to build support facilities that cannot be built in the current airport.

-o- Decent parking
-o- Rental car facilities
-o- Check-in and security and waiting areas that aren't just afterthoughts
-o- All-weather boarding on enclosed ramps that don't require stairs
-o- Adequate runway space for adult-sized planes like the 737 and A320 with 1st Class seating
Just when are you predicting that end?

The airport will be built and paid for in a few years, yet the oil production could last decades.

The most important thing that isn't being mentioned anywhere is that once the airport moves to the green-field site, the old airport will be the best real estate in town. They can leave the old tarmac there and make a wide commercial boulevard with trees and walking paths ... who knows?

Most of the people who use the current airport drive 5-10-more miles to use it. Moving it a couple of miles away, but making it much easier to use it will be a big improvement.
Oil production COULD last decades, but that doesn't assure that the jobs will stay.
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Old 11-29-2015, 10:21 AM
 
979 posts, read 3,662,417 times
Reputation: 601
If the Oil Production last for decades, that means there will be jobs. The jobs will not be the temporary jobs such as drillers, but permanent jobs that will be needed to maintain the production wells. Not everyone flying in and out will always be temporary. As the population grows, people will use the flights in and out for business, travel, vacation, etc... just as people do in Minot, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Billings, etc.. No question that the current airport is utilized by the majority of workers flying in and out of Williston. But the types of people who fly in and out will change as Williston's population dynamics change.
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Old 12-01-2015, 07:09 PM
 
1,870 posts, read 1,892,179 times
Reputation: 1384
Quote:
Originally Posted by empires228 View Post
Oil production COULD last decades, but that doesn't assure that the jobs will stay.
Just curious; where in the world is there oil production where the jobs have left?
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Old 12-05-2015, 11:20 AM
 
Location: Colorado
85 posts, read 205,292 times
Reputation: 120
Does this mean I'll be able to buy a plane ticket for less than $500?
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Old 12-05-2015, 02:56 PM
 
1,870 posts, read 1,892,179 times
Reputation: 1384
Quote:
Originally Posted by attentionspanltd View Post
Does this mean I'll be able to buy a plane ticket for less than $500?
Are you talking about a coach ticket? .... ew ...

A bigger airport means more capacity. There will be adult-sized planes with first class seating, so all you suckers back in steerage will likely be paying normal rates to fly to more destinations than DEN and MSP on planes that have more carry-on capacity than a butt-pack so that you don't have to gate-check your carry-on that fits on the 737s and A320s.

Once WN and/or B6 can fly into Williston, price competition will happen.

Destination competition will happen also. How many people would like non-stop flights to Florida in Feb? How about non-stop to Phoenix? ...... it's the stuff of dreams now.
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Old 12-13-2015, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Overland Park, Kansas
767 posts, read 1,312,594 times
Reputation: 781
Quote:
Originally Posted by IDtheftV View Post
Just curious; where in the world is there oil production where the jobs have left?
Look at the panhandle of Texas. It's nowhere near where it was at its peak despite having some of the nations refineries as well as oil fields. If the Williston area turns into one where people aren't needing to drill jobs will leave and the left over jobs will be for those who do maintenance and such. I don't live far from the areas of Kansas, Oklahoma, and especially Texas that went though the Oil and Gas boom of 30 years ago.
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