This article was originally published in the Summer 2013 edition of Briefings
Located in northeastern Minnesota’s Iron Range region just outside Hibbing, Range Regional Airport was officially dedicated in 1931. Formerly known as Chisholm-Hibbing Municipal Airport, the airport is owned and operated by the Chisholm-Hibbing Airport Authority.
Airport manager Shaun Germolus has been at Range Regional since 2007. “I enjoy interacting with various tenants, the flying public, and the local communities,” he says. According to the FAA, the airport had 30,365 aircraft operations, an average of 83 per day, in 2010. Of those, 82 percent were general aviation. The airport is serviced daily by Delta Connection (SkyWest) using CRJ-200 regional jets. In addition to Delta, other businesses that use or operate at the airport include Hibbing Fueling Facility, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fire suppression operation, maintenance provider TNT Airworks, Midwest Aircraft Refinishing, and air ambulance service Life Link III.
The airport has two runways, three 12-unit hangars, and more than 40 based aircrafts. Throughout the last few years, the airport has undergone significant changes, including repaving both runways in 2009.
Germolus says that one of the biggest challenges facing the airport today is finding sufficient funding. The airport relies on federal grants to carry out airport construction projects. However, federal funding has become more difficult to obtain each year.
One need is to increase the capacity of the airline terminal, he says. The current terminal building was constructed in 1978, prior to service by larger aircraft–and prior to the required operational space now needed by the Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for passenger and baggage screening. The FAA, MnDOT Office of Aeronautics, and airport authority will commit funds for the design of this project, with construction funding sources projected for 2013 and construction occurring in 2014, Germolus says.
In 2007 the Chisholm-Hibbing Airport Authority completed construction of a 30,000-square-foot building on a five-acre lot adjoining the airport with space for lease or purchase. The facility, Germolus says, was built as a showcase to attract light manufacturing and industries to the Iron Range. The airport took a loan from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board to build the facility and is currently in the midst of a final negotiation with a tenant–the revenue from which will “absolutely benefit the airport,” he says.
The airport is active in the local community and an important economic development resource for the area, Germolus says. “We belong to five different chambers of commerce and stay involved with all five as a regional airport.”
The airport is also trying to engage with the community online through its website and Facebook. The website is often used by customers to book flights or find flight times, but expanding the airport’s exposure on Facebook has been more of a challenge, Germolus says. He and the airport’s assistant director maintain the Facebook page with regular posts and photos about promotions and happenings at the airport.
