Don’t close Chapel Hill’s historic airport
The Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill is scheduled for closure in April. This would represent a significant loss to the local community and to aviation history. “IGX” is a public-use airport owned by UNC. One of the first airfields in North Carolina, IGX has been in continuous operation from the 1930’s and its historical past includes service as a U.S. Navy pre-flight school during World War II.
The airport also has unique standing in African-American history. Twenty of the original Tuskegee Airmen called North Carolina home and most all did some training at IGX. Warren Wheeler, the founder of the first African-American-owned air carrier, Wheeler Airlines, opened his own flying school at IGX in 1962. Earlier, due to racial segregation, earning a commercial pilot’s license was not possible for Wheeler in North Carolina. In order to realize his dream, Wheeler had to leave the South for his training.
Closing the airport will allow construction of Carolina North, a campus expansion. The University has held the airport is losing money and needs significant repairs. Closure has been repeatedly blocked by the State Legislature since 2000. In anticipation of closure, university aircraft are stationed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Patients arriving via airplane for UNC Hospitals Level One Trauma Center care are being diverted to RDU, greatly expanding the care timeline.
UNC Hospitals is the primary delivery of health services to rural NC areas. Jet helicopters, using flammable Jet A fuel, are often used to transport trauma patients. With an IGX closure, all helicopter flights arriving at the Trauma Center will fuel on the hospital helipad. While some “heli” flights are currently refueling rooftop, this expansion adds an additional element of risk, jeopardizing hospital patients and staff that exceed several thousand at any given time. The fuel is pumped up the walls to the 9th floor hospital rooftop. Each copter averages 1,000 gallons use per month so there will be significant roof top fueling activities. Similar refueling was deemed unsafe by Cape Fear Hospital.
State healthcare is directly supported by staff from UNC Chapel Hill hospitals. Five UNC fixed wing aircraft operate out of RDU, validating the need for university access to non-commercial flights. However, RDU is congested, expensive and involves a lengthy road trip to Chapel Hill. Again, the switch to RDU was in contemplation of the IGX closure. Combined fuel and maintenance costs are roughly two times higher versus IGX. IGX could support all of the University aircraft with the expansion of the runway to 5,000 feet and minimal repairs of the current runway. Likely, payback of all expenditures, including runway expansion and rehabilitation, would occure within three to five years.
Historically, the cost of operating IGX was easily covered by fuel sales and hangar fees. The purported loss, utilized to justify closure, is based upon faulty data. The proponents of IGX closure cite a “falling-off” of the field’s business as justification for the closing. However, this falling off is a function of local decisions, including the periodic announcements of closure, the eviction of a local flying club and the moving of the University’s flight operations to RDU in 2011. Even with the reduced activities, the alleged monthly loss of $7,500 is insignificant to the University operating budget.
An expanded runway coupled with a plan for ongoing operations would allow for the establishment of a flight school. There is a massive shortage of commercial pilots in the U.S. A flight school could provide significant revenue to the University community with a gross revenue stream of $2 million being easily achievable at $80,000 in tuition per student. Drone training and use is undoubtedly a significant part of the future of aviation and a drone school and center would add to local revenues and stature. With a working airport, medical and medical devise businesses will likely be inclined to locate in Chapel Hill.
Shortened reaction time saves lives. A 20-minute reduction will saves hundreds of lives annually. Both local and non-local doctors are continually arriving and departing the medical center via air. No reasonable person wants to fly out of RDU and deal with the traffic and delays. Expertise will be lost within the system; rural communities will be hurt as medical support is reduced.
IGX was one of the first airfields in North Carolina. Over 25 percent of all the pilots trained in WW II received training at IGX. NC flight heritage dates back to Orville and Wilbur Wright’s flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. North Carolina cannot afford to lose this historic airport.
Stephen Schoenberger is an Asheville resident who has often flown in and out of Horace Williams Airport with friends, who are private pilots.
This story was originally published March 2, 2018 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Don’t close Chapel Hill’s historic airport."