Though flight activity has slowed over the past few months and operations and spending have been scaled back, South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field is holding steady and proving to be resilient in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
And just like the rest of the city, SARA is keeping a close watch on the potential economic impact of the pending closure of Murphy Oil headquarters in El Dorado and the pullout of the company’s two corporate jets from SARA.
“We have maintained a mildly profitable business and kept as many people and employees as we can and kept the airport operating faithfully. That’s really all we can ask for during these challenging times,” airport manager Johnathan Estes said.
In the wake of COVID-19, Estes reported to El Dorado City Council members in March that the airport has maintained its operations without affecting travelers, transient aviation or flight safety.
As a part of a call by Council Member Vance Williamson, chairman of the city’s Finance Committee, for city department heads to cut spending on non-essential services, SARA business hours were clipped by three hours per day Monday through Friday.
The airport’s FBO (fixed-base operations) now shuts down at 5:30 p.m. each day, with call-out availability, Estes said.
Further cost-cutting measures include a reduction in the four-member airport staff and non-revenue generating overtime operations and a reshuffling of employee hours to cover all areas of airport operations.
There are a total four employee positions at SARA — the airport manager and three line attendants, who perform a variety of duties, including maintenance.
In response to COVID-19, Estes laid off one line attendant, dropping the total number of airport employees to three.
“Everyone is cross-utilized. I expect eventually, after a year or two, everyone will know other people’s jobs, except maybe the specialized skills,” Estes said.
Estes said that by the time he attempted rehire the line attendant who was laid off, the former SARA employee had already taken another job in his native Mississippi.
“Hopefully, when business picks back up, I’ll be able to hire another line attendant,” Estes said.
Flights
Estes said aviation activity at the airport has decreased since the COVID-19 outbreak, explaining that SARA serves general aviation, hangar tenants and corporate charter flight activities.
The municipal airport is also the site of the area’s Essential Air Service provider, Southern Airways Express, who offers commercial flights to Dallas and Memphis.
Estes said the public health crisis largely stalled the aviation market within the past few months at SARA but such activity is starting to pick back up.
“People just started hopping back on airplanes. It’s trickling. It’s not what we’re used to but we’re moving forward, I guess, and that’s in terms of plane movement, planes that are flying in and out as a whole, not just the (commercial) airline,” he said.
“The only thing that hasn’t slowed down in terms of airplanes moving is (Southern Airways) and that’s because they’re a government-contracted EAS and they have to fly to get the (government subsidy). Whether it’s one passenger or nine passengers they have to fly,” Estes continued. “They haven’t waivered on any of flights still fly all flights as contracted at the scheduled time.”
Southern Airways flies airplanes with a nine-seat passenger capacity and to assist customers in the midst of the public health crisis, Southern suspended change fees on all flights, regardless of fare class or date purchased, until May 31.
Customers in basic economy fare were also able to cancel and re-book flights.
During the week of May 17 - 24, Estes said there was an uptick in passenger enplanements for the first time in several weeks.
“There was an average of five people per day, not per flight,” he said.
To offer some perspective, Estes provided statistics that showed 209 people flew from El Dorado to Dallas in January; 166 in February; 134 in March; and 28 in April, compared to the corresponding months in 2019: 232 in January and February (232 in each month); 301 in March; and 245 in April.
“COVID-19 slapped us in January and sucker-punched us last month,” Estes said.
Monday through Friday, Southern offers three daily flights, all round-trip — a morning flight to Dallas, an afternoon (around 1 p.m.) trip to Memphis and another afternoon/evening to Dallas.
Southern flies two round-trips, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, to Dallas on Saturday and one trip each to Dallas (morning) and Memphis (evening) on Sunday.
Fuel sales
As airport manager, Estes has set a target goal of selling 18,000 gallons of jet fuel per month from the FBO.
“I don’t hit that right on every month but it’s nice if I hit above it,” he said.
Fuel sales are one of the SARA’s primary sources of revenue and sales have taken a dip with the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, Jet fuel sales averaged between 18,000 and 20,000 gallons per month.
The numbers look drastically different in the first quarter of 2020.
In January, SARA sold 14,925 gallons of Jet fuel; 17,945 in February, 16,263 in March; and 13,427 in April.
“It picked up a little bit in February. I was actually pleased with February. I can live with that number. It was 17,945, just 55 gallons short of my goal,” he said.
He noted that 11,000 is the lowest number of gallons the FBO has sold in his nearly eight years at SARA, first as line attendant and then manager since 2017.
“I haven’t seen 16,000 since late 2016 and that was when (former EAS provider Seaport Airlines ceased operations due to a court-order in bankruptcy court),” he said.
To offer another bit of perspective, Estes said Magnolia Municipal Airport at Ralph Weiser Field Airport reported total fuel sales of approximately 15,200 gallons in 2019.
In his records, Estes said he is noting the COVID-19 global health crisis so that his successors and airport historians will have a point of reference for the trend in fuel sales at SARA in the first quarter of 2020.
Estes said he applied for a piece of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a $2.2 trillion federal stimulus package to help American citizens, municipalities and businesses who face financial hardships due to the public health crises.
He said SARA should receive $69,000, which will be used to purchase fuel to sell at the FBO.
Murphy Oil
Earlier this month, the airport was hit with another possible blow with the announcement that Murphy Oil is moving its headquarters to Houston.
With the relocation comes the closure of Murphy’s flight department and the grounding of its two corporate jets, which are kept in a hangar at SARA.
Estes said the relocation will bring down revenues on the transient-flight side of airport operations with people flying into El Dorado to do business with Murphy Oil.
Additionally, the Murphy pullout will likely affect SARA’s landing statistics, which are factored into consideration in grant applications for state and federal funding.
He said Murphy has its own fueling system and pays a flowage fee to SARA for every gallon of fuel that it pumps into its planes.
“They pay us a fee for that, for not buying fuel from the FBO,” Estes said.
However, Murphy Oil occasionally purchases fuel from the airport’s FBO and in 2019, the oil company made up 9.1 percent of total fuel sales at SARA, the airport manager reported.
“And that’s just them buying fuel when they needed fuel faster because we have a more powerful fuel system that can pump fuel faster than they can pump it and they do that to help support the airport as well,” Estes said.
He said Murphy USA, the retail fuel operations side of Murphy Oil and whose headquarters will remain in El Dorado, has been picking up where Murphy Oil left off by purchasing fuel from SARA when it can.
“Murphy Oil, Murphy USA has always been a good quality company, in terms of they try to do what’s right and what’s best for their business and for the community,” Estes said.
“There are still several things happening among those who run the company and we await their decisions at every turn so that we may adjust to the new norm,” he added.
While it is too early to tell where COVID-19 and the relocation of Murphy Oil’s headquarters will leave the municipal airport, Estes said he and his crew will continue to move cautiously in the months to come and provide the best service to the area’s air-traveling community.
“The overall impact of the (economic) downturn this year will not be likely felt in full until later this year. It is my personal goal the keep the city’s airport operating safely, efficiently and economically,” he said.