Planners Hope Phoenix Goodyear Airport Use Takes Off With Jobs Growth
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Joe Husband’s career in airport management had an inauspicious start.
“The airport business sort of gets in your blood,” Husband said. “I actually started 26 years ago as a janitor at Sky Harbor.”
Now Husband is the manager of one of Phoenix’s three airports. He works in Goodyear, a facility where planes were built for World War II.
“This base, the Naval Air Facility Litchfield Park, was primarily for the manufacture and make ready of aircraft that were going overseas to support the war effort,” Husband said.
The military slowly left the facility after the Korean conflict. To help relieve traffic at Sky Harbor, the city of Phoenix bought the airport in the 1960s.
Today it’s a destination for private and corporate jets, home to flight schools and aircraft maintenance companies.
With airport traffic on the rise, the Phoenix City Council recently approved spending about $600,000— most of it grant money— to update the facility’s master plan.
Meanwhile, the West Valley is growing again, and Goodyear wants to use about 2,500 acres of airport corridor space to help transform the city from a bedroom community into a jobs machine.
“The master planning process is a valuable and exciting time for an airport because you are really working on developing that road map for the next 10 to 20 years of development,” Husband said.
Planning for the future
An airport master plan looks at aviation and economic trends, makes sure the facility is in line with regulations and acts kind of like a city’s general plan.
Airport activity is measured in takeoffs and landings. Last year, Goodyear recorded about 111,000. That’s up from when its largest flight school moved headquarters, but down from about decade ago when the last master plan was done.
Airport planners take inventory of what’s at the airport, identify any design deficiencies, analyze aviation forecasts and use community feedback to build a layout plan.
The southwest Valley facility serves a different clientele, said Charlie McDermott of Armstrong Consultants Inc. He will be the project manager in Goodyear.
“What’s unique about Goodyear is that the airport is really more focused on the business aspects,” McDermott said.
With about 80,000 people, Goodyear is the 14th fastest growing city in the country. Most residents work outside its borders.
To help change that, officials have prioritized attracting three industries— manufacturing, healthcare and aerospace and aviation.
Lockheed Martin used to have a large operation just north of the airport, but has significantly downsized its presence.
The economy is improving and Goodyear has become attractive to businesses again, said Michelle Lawrie, director of economic development.
“There are people and businesses that want to be located around the airport in our city,” Lawrie said.
New hangar and office space will open in the fall
Tim Berger has spent the last eight years building a family business at the airport. A former East Coast software developer, he’s the managing partner of Lux Air Jet Centers.
“I’m living my dream,” Berger said. “I get to go to the airport every day.”
Berger’s dream is growing. There are 66,000 square feet of new hangar and office space set to open in the fall.
“Whether it's a government project or a civilian project, it’s space that they can move into and do their business, which just feeds into the growth of the Goodyear airport,” Berger said.
Berger lives in Gilbert. He said affordability is a big reason he put his business on the other side of the Valley.
“Employees can come out here, work at the airport and actually live in the community,” Berger said. “Unlike some of the airports where maybe the ownership can live in the community, but the workers can’t.”
