WILMINGTON — The number of people employed at the Wilmington Air Park is estimated at 1,900, and that figure may be a little conservative, said the executive director of the organization that owns and manages the air park.
Total employment grew this summer with the addition of the new Amazon Air package-sorting operations. Prior to the late June opening of the Amazon Air gateway, a Clinton County commissioners May 1 letter stated the air park is home to businesses that employed nearly 1,500 people.
The updated air park workforce estimate was given at Thursday’s monthly public meeting of the Clinton County Port Authority board members.
At the same meeting, Clinton County Port Authority Executive Director Dan Evers said there are “a number of aviation-related prospects with whom we are having ongoing conversations and with whom we are pursuing opportunities.”
Evers made that statement in connection with a discussion about longer-term possibilities for the number of daily flights at the air park increasing.
One of the meeting’s agenda items related to carrying out a security protocol through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
As a result of the return of air cargo operations at the Wilmington Air Park, all personnel, contractors and others who hold access badges to the air park must receive clearance through TSA’s security threat assessment program, said Evers.
Wilmington Air Park badge holders submitted applications, and the information they contain is reviewed against the TSA security threat database, Evers said.
Several of the “New Business” action items on the meeting agenda involved the purchasing or leasing of heavy-duty snow removal equipment for the runway, taxiways and ramps.
Having a snow-removal fleet of equipment at the air park is essential during winter operations for Amazon landings and take-offs, said Evers.
One piece of equipment — a pre-owned Oshkosh Corporation snow broom vehicle for airports — was acquired at online auction from an airport in West Virginia. It was inspected by staff from LGSTX Services Inc. which is located at the air park.
The cost is $28,181.
“We’d love to find another just like it,” said the Clinton County Port Authority executive director.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
