Nov 2, 2021
Here at Yeager Airport, we move fast and efficiently; we also pride ourselves on staying ahead and being forward thinkers who don’t have a box to think outside of.
Our latest project is electrifying CRW with electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, better known as eVTOL. WATCH HERE or read below for more.
“This is an opportunity for Kanawha County and West Virginia to be at the forefront of emerging technology. A lot of this stuff hasn’t been done before. We can be at the forefront of this technology while trying to achieve our vision of being the most significant economic engine of the state of West Virginia by bringing high-paying, high-tech jobs,” said Airport Director Nick Keller.
At the end of October, The Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority Board voted to move forward with a consulting group, Thrasher. This agreement means that a team of consultants will prepare CRW and West Virginia for an eVTOL infrastructure.
“The groundwork phase has kicked off. We are doing cost estimating right now to see the financial obligation for that battery research center. We are in talks with the engineering school at Marshall with their thoughts on what this will look like, how it will function, and what sort of equipment we will need….so we can be more attractive to different funding sources,” said Thrasher Marketing Director, Heidi Handley.
For the last six weeks, Director Keller, and Thrasher Group, Marshall University, and the Robert C. Byrd Institute have been working on several eVTOL opportunities.
“That would include electrifying our airport, putting charging stations in, and looking around the state to put these landing pads for aircraft. The potential to have an aerospace manufacturing facility in the Kanawha valley and region would make these aircraft batteries. Thrasher is under contract to help us review this and help us with federal grant applications, land acquisition, and site development. The whole host of everything that relates to eVTOL” said Keller.
eVTOL aircraft are battery operated and will be a significant milestone for CRW’s zero-emission aviation industry. Board members like Ed Hill and Jim Dodtrill all approve of Director Keller’s vision of electrifying CRW.
“We see an economic opportunity that will significantly benefit this area and the state,” said Hill.
“For the state and the region because we are on the front edge of it. For example, if we do the battery research center in cooperation with Marshall, it will be the first in the world. It’s kind of like if you built it, they would come. It will be like a magnet; it will attract the eVTOL companies to West Virginia,” said Dodrill.
CRW is working hard to lock in grant funding, and depending on that, we could see work on the infrastructure being done as soon as the following year.
Oct 28, 2021
YEAGER AIRPORT TAKES BIG STEP IN ELECTRIFYING CRW WITH SEVERAL EVTOL OPPORTUNITIES
On Wednesday, the Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority approved entering into a contract with The Thrasher Group. Airport Design Consultants Inc. and Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research will be sub-consultants. The agreement means a team of consultants will be fully engaged to prepare CRW and West Virginia for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) infrastructure.
CRW is working on multiple funding opportunities for the build-out of electric infrastructure at multiple West Virginia locations to operate eVTOL aircraft.
The contract will build on work conducted over the last six weeks where Thrasher and CRW, along with Marshall University, and the Robert C. Byrd Institute, have been working on several eVTOL opportunities, including:
- Establishing Air Taxi Intrastate Air Service and an eVTOL Center of Excellence
- The overall vision is for CRW to become a hub for future air taxi services with airline connections. The airport will serve as a center of excellence for eVTOL training and operations.
- Battery Research Center
- CRW will work with Marshall University, private companies, and others to explore opening the world’s first aerospace battery research center.
- Manufacturing Facility
- Thrasher will work with CRW to identify potential sites and conduct design work for aerospace components manufacturing facilities.
- Vertiports & electrification infrastructure
- Thrasher and sub-consultants will design eVTOL electric infrastructure, charging stations, landing pad facilities, vertiports, heliports, flight simulators, and associated support infrastructure at multiple locations
- CRW Airport Electrification Project
- This will include the design and construction of electrical infrastructure, landing pad, and aircraft charging stations.
- Design and construction of the aerospace economic development center, which would consist of a 10,000 square foot hangar for electric and other aircraft, terminal building for general aviation users, an innovation center, and aerospace business incubator and accelerator that will serve as a hub for the state.
Airport Director Nick Keller says the agreement is a significant milestone for CRW’s zero-emissions aviation industry. “This work and our partnership with the Thrasher Group will ensure the State of West Virginia is at the forefront of the emerging eVTOL industry, attracting good paying high tech aerospace jobs to the Mountain State”
Thrasher’s Director of Marketing, Heidi Handley, says this will be a transformational project. “As a West Virginia-based firm, it is exciting to be a part of an innovative project with such big implications for our state. The introduction of eVTOL truly can reshape the aerospace industry and greatly impact the economy throughout West Virginia. This will bring new, well-paying jobs – not only in the aviation space but through the construction and manufacturing industries that support eVTOL.”
Both parties will work closely to explore opportunities for how this type of technology can fit into existing and future operations at CRW with the plan of maximizing job opportunities and simplifying travel throughout the state.
About Yeager Airport (CRW): A study done by the West Virginia Aeronautics Commission says Yeager Airport is responsible for nearly 3,000 jobs and has a $225-million economic impact in the state. Yeager Airport is the largest commercial Airport in West Virginia, with service provided by American, Delta, Spirit, and United Airlines. The Airport’s Organizational Vision is: “To become the most important economic engine for the state through advances in aviation and education.” Yeager Airport, in conjunction with the West Virginia National Guard, hosts the Home Base Program. The program works to facilitate military ground, tactical, and air training in West Virginia.
For more information, please contact:
Rachel Urbanski, Public Affairs Specialist
rurbanski@yeagerairport.com
304-590-6164
Oct 4, 2021
On Monday morning, Yeager Airport (CRW), along with several local emergency first responders and student volunteers, took part in our annual full-scale triennial exercise. The exercise will test Yeager Airport’s reaction time and readiness to respond to an aircraft incident on the airfield.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires the unrehearsed exercise to be conducted by Yeager Airport at least once every three years. Airport officials will use information gathered during the training to help further refine emergency response plans at CRW.
“The airport is always planning for emergency responses to keep passengers and customers safe. By practicing our skills with local first responders, we can ensure we are always ready should an aircraft emergency ever occur,” said Airport Director Nick Keller.
The scenario included an emergency landing on a compact snow-covered runway. Once the aircraft landed, the nose gear collapsed, forcing the plane to slide off the runway. The plane eventually comes to rest in a valley below the Carpenter Slip.
Yeager is grateful for the responding agencies who helped with the drill, including 130th ANG Fire Department, Charleston Fire Department, Kanawha County Ambulance, Kanawha County Emergency Management, Charleston Police Department, Kanawha County Emergency Management, and Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department.
100 Airport Road – Suite 175 | Charleston, West Virginia 25311 | 304.344.8033
About Yeager Airport (CRW): A study done by the West Virginia Aeronautics Commission says Yeager Airport is
responsible for nearly 3,000 jobs and has a $225-million economic impact in the state. Yeager Airport is the largest commercial airport in West Virginia, with service provided by American, Delta, Spirit, and United Airlines.
The Airport’s Organizational Vision is: “To become the most important economic engine for the state through advances in aviation and education.” Yeager Airport, in conjunction with the West Virginia National Guard, hosts the Home Base Program. The program works to facilitate military ground, tactical, and air training in West Virginia.
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For more information, please contact:
Rachel Urbanski, Public Affairs Specialist
Rurbanski@yeagerairport.com
304-590-6164
Sep 29, 2021
The travel industry is slowly bouncing back after 18 months in a worldwide pandemic. But, with plane and pilot shortages, the future of travel is well – up in the air.
Five thousand pilots accepted early retirement offers from mainline U.S. carriers aviation consultant Kit Darby told industry publication Travel Weekly. Airlines are anticipating reaching the 2019 travel level by next year or in 2023, but in order to grow, pilots need to be replaced fast and at a higher capacity.
Airports are catching on and are becoming creative on how to combat this shortage. Over the next two decades, it’s projected that 87 new pilots will need to be trained and ready to fly a commercial airliner every day to meet the demand for air travel. Overall employment of airline and commercial pilots is estimated to grow 6% from 2018 to 2028, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Flight training schools have popped up across the country and at CRW in response to the pilot shortage. Kristen Sayre is one of three women in CRW’s Marshall University Bill Noe Flight School’s inaugural class.
“This was a great time to start school because the demand for pilots is only going to increase, especially for women pilots opportunity an even greater opportunity for women in aviation. I think the national statistic for women pilots is 8%, and it’s even longer for career pilots. So right now, there are three of us out of 18 students; we are defying the statistic right now, which is awesome,” Sayre said.
It only took 363 days of construction on CRW’s Marshall University Bill Noe Flight School, where future pilots have a state-of-the-art building and hangar for their education and training.
“It’s a four-year program. The school just got started up a few months ago. It all came together so quickly, as everyone knows. It b took a year for them to set it all up, which is awesome considering all that,” Sayre said.
Ben Epperly is in Sayre’s class. For him, his flight path was always clear.
“Since I was a kid, I have always liked aviation: the sights, the sounds. Always being at the airport. Its excitement in the air” said Epperly.
Marshall University’s planned Commercial Pilot: Fixed Wing, B.S. degree program will help meet the nation’s projected significant need for commercial pilots over the next 20 years. In addition, its ground and flight courses will lead to many FAA certifications and prepare graduates to become commercial pilots of single and multi-engine aircraft.
“I will definitely fly commercial but with an airline, but ii may start corporate first,” Sayre said.
“To be a commercial pilot and fly any airline I can get a hold of. Delta, American all that to fly internationally is what I want to do,” Epperly said.
The new bachelor’s degree program just began in the fall 2021 semester.
Yeager Airport Director and CEO Nick Keller plans to grow the program and bring West Virginia an extra economic boost.
QUESTION: ONE OF THE GOALS OF THE PROGRAM IS TO INVEST IN AVIATION EDUCATION AND CREATE QUALITY JOBS. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE BILL NOE FLIGHT SCHOOL IN THE NEXT YEAR? HOW CAN WE HELP THE PILOT SHORTAGE?
“West Virginia and Marshall Bill Noe Flight School and Yeager Airport play a key role in reversing the pilot shortage and help add new pilots. Where I want to see the flight school now is to continue adding new students every semester. In addition, Marshall has new aircraft on order. So imagine in 5 years, over 200 full-time college students going to school at Yeager Airport through Marshall University, graduating up to 50 pilots a year. There is also the opportunity for Marshall to add in different degree programs in aviation management or aerospace engineering.”
QUESTION: WHAT IS THE AIRLINE PILOT CADET PROGRAM?
“One of the things the airport is doing is we are talking to airlines partnering with Marshall University for cadet programs. The program is a pathway for someone who is in pilot training to get a guaranteed job at an airline once they graduate. So they can start with an airline and get into the program; this would help students compete in the economy.”
The Marshall University Bill Noe Flight School will enroll more than 200 students and produce some 50 commercial pilots annually when in full operation.
The curriculum will teach students aeronautics, navigation, flight control, and communication systems.
The incentive to get more pilots is enticing. Based on national data, professional pilots enjoy a great ROI, estimated at 55x, compared to other popular professions like engineers, attorneys, and physicians, estimated at 30-40x.
“It’s the perfect time for us, I mean, especially w this location here and all the job opportunities we will be able to get, and it won’t take very long,” said Epperly.
The median annual wage for airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers was $147,220 in 2019, while the median yearly salary for commercial pilots was $86,080.
Sep 23, 2021
The Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority has received a $5.6 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct an Environmental Impact Study (EIS).
The Yeager Airport Runway Safety Project, as proposed by the Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority, would establish a standard 1,000-foot-long by 500-foot-wide runway safety area at both ends of Runway 5-23 and provide a runway length of 7,000 feet. The proposed improvements would require an estimated 12.8 million to 20 million cubic yards of fill to accommodate the proposed runway shift and standard safety areas.
A successful EIS project will allow the Runway Safety Project to move forward and make room for 50 to 60 extra acres of developable land, which could be used for aeronautical purposes such as hangars, industrial parks, and more aircraft parking.
“If the Environmental Impact Study is mitigated and the Runway Safety Project moves forward, it has a potential economic impact of $300 million and hundreds of construction jobs,” said Yeager Airport Director and CEO Nick Keller.
Local leaders are also on board with the project.
“It is great news that Yeager Airport is receiving this funding to conduct an environmental impact study ahead of their runway safety project,” Senator Shelley Moore Capito said. “As our state’s largest airport, it’s important that Yeager Airport has the facilities and resources needed to handle the volume of travelers that come through every day while providing the opportunity to grow. Today’s announcement is encouraging for Charleston, the surrounding communities, frequent travelers through Yeager Airport, and the entire state of West Virginia.”
“Yeager Airport serves a critical role in driving economic development throughout the entire state of West Virginia. This investment from the FAA is welcomed news and an important step towards the continued expansion of Yeager Airport,” said Senator Joe Manchin.
The project is part of the airport’s long-term goal to be West Virginia’s most significant economic engine in the state.
A study done by the West Virginia Aeronautics Commission says Yeager Airport is responsible for nearly 3,000 jobs and has a $225-million economic impact in the state. Yeager Airport is the largest commercial Airport in West Virginia, with service provided by American, Delta, Spirit, and United Airlines. The Airport’s Organizational Vision is: “To become the most important economic engine for the state through advances in aviation and education.” Yeager Airport, in conjunction with the West Virginia National Guard, hosts the Home Base Program. The program works to facilitate military ground, tactical, and air training in West Virginia.
Want to know about about the EIS Grant and the runway safety project? Click the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-Ua7Aw0nsI
