The Olds-Didsbury Airport is now under the full-time care of the Olds-Didsbury Flying Association (ODFA) after county administration agreed to let the club take over the management of the facility.
Ed Shaw, president of the ODFA said until now the county had been managing the airport since purchasing it a few years ago.
“It was felt that they still own the airport but the day-to-day operations of the management of the airport could be done more efficiently and less costly and serve the community better than having the county operate it,” Shaw told the Gazette.
As of Sept. 1, the county agreed on a trial period of two-and-a-half years, at which point the ODFA's management of the facility will be reviewed and a decision will be made whether or not to extend the agreement.
The ODFA has taken over all maintenance and care of the facility, from clearing the runways to managing the airspace.
An insurance company in the area currently runs a $5-million cloud-seeding operation out of the airport, and crop sprayers and recreational users also use the facility.
Taking that responsibility away from the county and leaving it to those who may be more experienced with the operations of an airport should be beneficial to the facility, he said.
“One of the problems we've had with the airport is there's a lot of people who do not understand the full depth for what it does for the community,” he said.
It doesn't receive much public attention either, but there is now a flying school that recently moved out of Calgary and into the airport, and the Olds Air Cadets also make use of the facility.
“So it's a training facility and is part of the transportation infrastructure,” he said.
The association also arranges an annual youth flying day, where pilots give free rides in planes to those interested in trying it out, he added, noting that the program used to be partnered with Chinook's Edge School Division, but due to policy changes, the program cannot now run through the schools.
The ODFA started taking steps to take over the management of the airport months ago when some members thought they would be able to operate the facility more efficiently by using both volunteers and private-sector workers, rather than having a governmental organization like the county running it, he said.
ODFA members want to see the airport grow and flourish, he said.
Members want to attract prospective buyers and participants, so putting the duties of publicizing the airport in the hands of owners and members will also help in that regard, he said.
There are many opportunities the ODFA wants to take advantage of, namely that this airport is one of the few in the country that actually sells lots for hangars to be built on, whereas most others will only lease out the lots.
“We've got a lot of interest from Springbank, so we see that by getting some confidence by managing and operating the airport we're going to encourage a lot more investment in the county of Mountain View and the airport,” he said.
Greg Neufeld, vice-president of the ODFA, who also sits on the board of directors, worked closely with county officials on this initiative.
“I've been an active member of the flying association since about 2005, and I've got to know the majority of the hangar owners out there and I am a hanger owner as well,” said Neufeld.
He had wanted more input in the management of the airport since the county took it over from the group that previously owned it, he said.
“Since that time, through a number of changes in the county and different things that had gone on, the hangar owners at large – me being one of them – felt the airport wasn't running as efficiently as it could have been,” he said.
“And so that led on to a group of us wanting to become more involved in our destiny.”
He doesn't know if this is what the ODFA had expected to happen, but did say that this move was the culmination of a lot of work between all parties involved, and thinks this move will be for the best.
The county was not doing it wrong, he noted, but he thought the association could handle things more efficiently.
“It's similar to how the volunteer fire departments are run. They're a service provided for the community, and the county runs them basically through volunteer taxpayers who know how important it is for fire protection,” he said.
This move will be positive for both the county and the airport, he said.
“It's a win-win. I think everybody was happy that we were able to go through this and do this.”
