FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Airport is exiting winter with a solid foundation and prospects for the future.

Besides the big snowstorm at the end of November, Fairmont Airport Manager Lee Steinkamp said snow removal was pretty standard, and maintenance proceeded as usual during their more timid season.

“We have eight buildings out here,” he said. “It’s always something, lights or, you know, something always keeps you busy.”

Currently, the most pressing issue for the airport is securing state and federal funding.

“We have a list of projects we want to do,” Steinkamp said. “We all wish we had a tree with $100 bills on it. We’ve got to prioritize our planning, prioritize our projects. Planning is time-consuming, and there’s a lot of thought that goes into it.”

Looking over their priority list, Steinkamp said the bones of the airport are good, but there are still ways they can improve on top of them.

“I’d like to have another big hanger,” he said. “All of our other stuff right now is in pretty good shape. Our lighting, pavement and buildings are in pretty good shape. I’d like to do a new fuel system here coming up, because it’s getting some age on it.”

By doing so, Steinkamp said they could attract more business to the airport, which they don’t have space for now.

“Having space for more sprayers in the summer,” he said. “I’ve had some inquiries, but the cost of building a hangar is very expensive, and doing without federal funds is very difficult.”

Not only would this help the airport, but it would also help Fairmont.

“We’d have more operations,” Steinkamp said. “Typically, the people in the back of the airplane have pretty good-paying jobs. You’d have good jobs in the community. You’d have people buying houses in the community, that type of thing.”

There is a deal in the works for Advantage Aviation, an aviation maintenance company, to bring a pre-fab hangar to the Fairmont Airport and bring their business here.

“We got the FAA approval last week for it,” Steinkamp said. “We’re just waiting on a couple building things. Everything is on track.”

Ideally, the building will be brought in and set up in April. Having a maintenance business in Fairmont means more stability as the professional landscape changes with time.

“There are several maintenance facilities around here that are owned by older individuals,” Steinkamp said. “It’s a matter of time before they retire, and there won’t be as many options in this part of the world for aviation maintenance.”

Overall, Steinkamp said the plan is to continue plugging away on their projects when they can.

“Keep planning, keep it running, keep the hangers full,” he said. “Keep people using it. Keep the community and city council informed, continue using their support.”

Even if state and federal money doesn’t come as much as they hope, Steinkamp said he feels pretty good about the current state of the airport.

“I think it’s in really good shape,” he said. “People tell me all the time how pretty the airport is, how nice it is and how maintained it is. Obviously, if money wasn’t an object, we’d redo some things and add some things, but all we can do is work with what we have.”

There are some minor issues that did come up at Tuesday’s Airport Committee meeting, including removal of trees for clearance zones and a hangar door replacement. Steinkamp also confirmed that, at this time, there are no plans to pursue any major capital projects in 2026 unless more funding comes in.

The master plan was also discussed, as it is currently being looked over by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The last one was made in 2015, and contained a list of potential significant projects for the building, runway and clear zone areas, none of which ended up being worked on.

“Our current airport layout plan has several buildings, taxiways and a longer runway on it,” Steinkamp said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to do all that stuff. If we decide to do any of those things, it has to be on the airport layout master plan before the FAA will fund it.”

It is essentially a wish list, Steinkamp said, which they may or may not choose to act on, depending on how the future shapes supply or demand for the airport.