Near-Empty Planes Land on Hilton Head as Airport Gets $1.2M for Coronavirus Relief
As flights arrive with fewer than 10 passengers onboard, the Hilton Head airport is seeing a stark departure from its up-and-up growth of the past several years. Officials also are talking about changing the plans to renovate the aging airport terminal.
The about-face mirrors what’s happening across the country as hundreds of airports receive millions in aid to help bridge the near-total collapse of air travel due to the coronavirus.
The Hilton Head airport is scheduled to get $1.2 million, while the Savannah/ Hilton Head International Airport in Pooler is scheduled to receive $26.8 million, according to Federal Aviation Administration documents.
The federal grants are being distributed from the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package passed last month, and Jon Rembold, Beaufort County’s director of airports, said Hilton Head’s money will be used to cover operations costs such as payroll, utility payments and debt service.
But other plans for federal money appear to be up for discussion.
In an April 15 teleconference, Hilton Head Town Manager Steve Riley suggested the airport and Beaufort County should put the brakes on a planned terminal expansion being funded with a $10 million grant from the FAA.
“We should not be building the nation’s last pre-COVID airport,” he said. “We should step back and build the nation’s first post-COVID airport.”
Rembold said he and the county have no plans to delay the terminal project, for which the county has already purchased three plots of land on nearby Hunter Road from local businesses. The expansion plans forced them to relocate.
But Rembold added that coronavirus has also forced the FAA to provide more time on airport projects.
“It’s looking like now we’ll design that project for the remainder of this year. The timeline was originally very compressed,” he said. “FAA has changed things and given us more time to design.”
Rembold said the terminal project will likely go out to bid in early 2021.
As for designing an airport that can be more versatile during a pandemic, Rembold said he knows of no new design standards.
Riley, the town manager, suggested on April 15 that an airport designed with pandemics in mind could feature areas to check vital signs of passengers or more medical facilities.
How many people are flying into Hilton Head?
Most flights arriving at Hilton Head Island Airport have fewer than 10 passengers, Rembold said.
On Monday, flight plans showed eight flights originally scheduled to arrive at the north-end airport. Two flights — both to arrive from Charlotte and operated by American Airlines— were canceled.
Four of the remaining flights were operated by private owners, and they were scheduled to arrive from Houston, Columbia, Indianapolis and Beaufort.
The two remaining flights were scheduled to arrive from Atlanta and Charlotte and were operated by Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, respectively.
“It’s very strange,” Rembold said of the near-empty planes arriving. “I haven’t seen anything like this since 9/11.”
Can the airport close?
Rembold said in March that the FAA has jurisdiction over whether to close an airport, not Beaufort County Council or the Hilton Head Island mayor.
“While aviation can be conducted safely, you cannot close a federally obligated airport,” he said. “We’re like the interstate highway system but for airports. ... You can’t go out and close the interstate.”
He said the airport has closed in the past when the runway was unsafe to use, such as during a hurricane.
“An order from the FAA would have to be sent out” to all airlines and pilots, Rembold said.
———
©2020 The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.)
Visit The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.) at www.islandpacket.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
