Airports Balance Lower Fees with Bigger Terminals

Airplane passengers could be asked: Do you want cheaper tickets or a better flying experience?

A municipal airport poses a similar question to the air traveler: Do you want lower fees or do you want a bigger, better airport?

While dropping revenue at some airports force cutbacks, another fine line is being drawn at the newly renamed Clinton National Airport in Little Rock.

Executive Director Ron Mathieu and Jim Dailey, airport commission chairman, concede there’s a tension between the bottom line for the individual airport patron (the cost of flying) and the community at large (the airport’s economic impact, boosted by the $67 million phase one renovation). But they think the airport is doing the best it can to balance those competing interests.

Read more about the sweeping renovations at the largest airport in Arkansas in this week’s Arkansas Business.