14 September 2005 Program

Paul Henderson, manager of the Mt. Pleasant Airport did today's program. After showing the video Destination Texas about the TASP (Texas Airport System Plan), Paul shared some particulars about our local airport.

• The current runway is 5000 feet.
  
• They are in a capital improvement program to lengthen the runway to 6000 feet, which would bring us up to the same capacity as places like Paris and Texarkana. Although this is long enough for the commuter style planes that service Tyler and Longview, he doesn't expect the demand to be enough for such service to start here any time soon.
  
• They just finished a major hanger addition.
• They use full truck load (18 wheeler size) of fuel each week.
• Recently named Texas Airport of the Year.
• Flight instruction is available on site.
• 51 airplanes are currently based at the airfield.
• Pilgrim's Pride is a major customer.