City officials are seeking funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to support a new marketing program for commercial flights at McKinney National Airport.
In a nutshell
McKinney City Council members approved a resolution April 21 authorizing the city manager to apply for USDOT’s Small Community Air Service Development Program. The city will seek $1.6 million through the grant opportunity. If awarded, the money can be used for marketing the airport or specific airlines, according to a city document.
USDOT operates the competitive grant program as a way to enhance air service in “small communities,” according to a notice of funding document. City officials are applying for the grant with $300,000 in local match dollars from Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2.
At a March 17 meeting, TIRZ No. 2 board members approved funding from its own budget to provide local match dollars and fund the program’s first year.
Looking back
Air service incentive programs are “widely used at U.S. airports across the country,” McKinney National Airport Director Ken Carley said during the March 17 meeting.
“Most airports have programs to support new routes [and] help to reduce the risk of establishing new routes,” he said. “They typically either take the form of waiving some of the operating fees for airlines or they have targeted marketing support.”
The program is designed to expand connectivity for North Texas passengers and strengthen the airport’s position in the region, Carley said. McKinney National Airport is expected to open a commercial service terminal this fall.
When it opens, it will be one of three airports in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that offers commercial service. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport both offer air service incentive programs, Carley said.
TIRZ No. 2 board members allocated $1.6 million in total for the program, which could launch as soon as June 1, according to Carley’s presentation. That money includes $1 million to support the program’s first year, $300,000 for general airport marketing and $300,000 in local match dollars.
“If we intend to start service in November—that’s what we’re working towards—we would propose an effective date of June so that airlines can start to market new routes,” Carley said.
How it works
The incentive program will target year-round and seasonal market destinations not previously offered within the last 12 months, according to Carley’s presentation.
“These would be first-come, first-serve routes,” he said. “One incentive per market so the first airline in to establish that market would be the only one eligible for the incentives.”
Eligible airlines would need to have a fully executed use and lease agreement with McKinney National Airport, Carley said. Officials are not proposing “waive any fees on the front end,” he said.
Incentives would be offered through reimbursements after routes have been operated for at least three consecutive months, according to his presentation.
“You have to run marketing on a route for at least three months to be eligible,” Carley said. “If an airline comes in and they try a route for two months and decide to pull it, they would not receive any reimbursements under this program.”
