Funding for the Glideslope at the Newnan-Coweta Airport has been yanked by the Georgia Department of Transportation, leaving the Coweta Airport Authority in a quandary over how to get the project back on track.
"The Georgia DOT pulled the funding about a month ago," said Reg Weaver, engineer for the board, at the Tuesday morning meeting of the airport authority at the Newnan-Coweta Airport.
Weaver said the project -- which was expected to help attract business to the airport -- had been funded for several years, and the appropriation was always carried forward into the next year's budget when obstacle after obstacle prevented its coming to fruition.
But not this time, Weaver said.
"So now we're looking at some alternatives," said Weaver.
The long-delayed Glideslope has been a major topic of discussion at the past several meetings of the Coweta Airport Authority. After years of fighting with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over the proposed new prototype Glideslope antenna, members of the authority said in September that it may be time to "fish or cut bait" on the project.
Airport Manager Calvin Walker explained that the Glideslope has the potential to be a key tool for the airport. The Glideslope was to be the first of its type to be installed in the United States.
The FAA has now approved the prototype antenna "for further testing," Walker said, but it took so long to secure the approval that now the funding no longer exists.
"FAA approval is great, but it would have been better to have it a year ago, when we still had the funding," lamented Walker.
Glideslope is described as a landing system designed to help aircraft land with precision, especially during inclement weather.
The antenna to be installed at Newnan-Coweta Airport was to be a new type of system that, until recently, has only been used in Europe. The new technology creates a "virtual plane" that allows the unit to guide airplanes without having to bounce a signal off the ground, which has the potential to save airports many thousands of dollars in site preparation costs.
"You don't need all that dirt," explained Eddie Whitlock, assistant county administrator.
Plans to install the Glideslope began several years ago. The airport had been waiting for Kansas-based Thales, the company that introduced the Glideslope antenna, to complete site engineering and obtain FAA approval. A year ago, a representative from Thales thanked the authority for being "very patient."
Jeff Beecher of Thales explained in July 2008 that his company had originally planned on installing the antenna and then getting FAA approval afterward, but ultimately the company decided to perform more tests and present further documents to the FAA before beginning installation.
The airport authority is hopeful that it can get the funding for the Glideslope reinstated. They should get an answer to that question within the next two to three weeks, said board member Ronny Jones.
If the funding has truly evaporated, Jones said, it may be time to re-prioritize.
"If the Glideslope doesn't work out, then should we be looking at developing our taxiways? Runway strengthening? What should our priority be right now?" asked Jones.
"We've got to wait on the DOT to give us an answer, and then we can make some decisions from there," said Jones.
"We seem to be in a holding pattern," quipped Whitlock.
