By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The city of Hays is still waiting for official word from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the number of passenger boardings there were last year at the Hays Regional Airport.

“As far as the city stands, we believe we’ve hit over the 10,000 mark,” Assistant City Manager Jacob Wood said. “We’ve counted and we believe we’re over those. But it’s really up to the FAA to approve that number and give us the final results.”

If there were more than 10,000 boardings in 2017, the city becomes eligible for a $1 million grant from the FAA. Otherwise, the grant funding program annually allocates $150,000 for airport projects.

Recognizing the “FAA is a huge bureaucracy, it takes a long time for them to give us the actual numbers,” Wood acknowledged.

He thinks there may be something preliminary from the FAA next month.

Previous million dollar FAA grants have paid for construction of the airport fire station, the Instrument Landing System (ILS), repair of the main runway and to make improvements in the terminal.

“Once you reach 10,000 boardings, it really changes the scope and scale of the airport,” said Vice-Mayor Henry Schwaller. “It would also be indicative that the new air carrier SkyWest is paying off.”

According to Ovid Seifers, airport manager, the boarding reports come from two sources: SkyWest, the airport’s Essential Air Service (EAS) provider and from boardings with charter flights with a Part 135 Operator, an aircraft that is hired on demand for transport.

SkyWest 50-passenger jets began providing service at the Hays Regional Airport in August, 2014, with flights to and from Denver. A Chicago flight, in cooperation with the Salina Regional Airport, was added earlier this month.

The airport last reached 10,000 boardings in 2011 and 2012. City officials are hopeful the new Chicago flight will help boost the numbers regularly.