ContactsBarbara Maxfield, (808) 753-0440
With support from the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Interior has secured funding to maintain airport operations at Henderson Field on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge through January. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lifted its previous “stop work” order on December 31, and Chugach McKinley Inc. and its subcontractor, American Airports Corporation, will keep the airfield open for commercial, military, and private aircraft.
“We are pleased to be able to maintain airfield operations on Midway for an additional 30 days, and sincerely hope this leads to a long-term commitment to keep the airfield open,” said Jerry Leinecke, project leader for national wildlife refuges in the Pacific. “We recognize Henderson Field’s importance to commercial air traffic across the Pacific, as well as to many of our federal partners.”
In language accompanying Interior’s Fiscal Year 2004 appropriations act, Congress specified that benefitting parties should pay for operation of the airfield if it remains open and noted that the airfield is not critical for refuge operations and maintenance. Funding provided by an emergency supplemental appropriation and by the FAA kept the airfield open from October 1 through December, but with no additional funds available, the Fish and Wildlife Service issued a “stop work” order to its contractor on December 17.
The Department of Transportation’s appropriations bill, which is now part of the pending Omnibus Appropriations bill, directs benefitting agencies to contribute to a fund managed by FAA that would make up to $6 million available to operate Midway’s airfield through September 30. Although the House of Representatives has approved the bill, the Senate delayed its vote until it reconvenes on January 20.
Midway’s airfield is available for refueling of commercial, military, and private aircraft, and is used by commercial airlines as a required emergency alternative landing site for trans-Pacific twin-engine operations. Two other remote airfields in the Pacific recently closed; the airfield at Wake Atoll is temporarily closed while its runway is being resurfaced and the Johnston Atoll airfield permanently closed to commercial aviation in December. The Coast Guard frequently uses Midway during enforcement operations, and cooperates with the Fish and Wildlife Service on emergency medical evacuations from the mid-Pacific.
“It has always been our desire to keep the airfield fully operational, and we hope the long-term funding can be secured in the near future,” Leinecke said.
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