TERRE HAUTE —
As Super Bowl XLVI approaches, Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field is laying out the welcome mat for a big increase in business.
Hoosier Aviation, a private company that purchased the airport’s fixed base operators services last year, is remodeling the west end of the airport in time for the big game. And on Monday night, the Airport Authority board presented the company with a gift designed to keep visiting pilots happy: a massage chair for the pilot’s lounge.
“The most important customer is the pilot,” said Chris Doll, airport authority board president. “We’ve got to keep the pilot happy. That creates the repeat customer.”
Doll said he learned at a recent aviation convention that the most popular item in a modern pilot’s lounge is a massage chair. The authority bought the chair because if Hoosier Aviation is successful, the airport will be successful, he said.
“We’re true partners because we get a cut of their revenues,” Doll said.
Some of the first pilots to use the pilot’s lounge and the massage chair could be corporate pilots for the NFL’s New York Giants. Aircraft affiliated with the NFC Championship team will drop passengers in Indianapolis and then fly to Terre Haute for Super Bowl weekend, said Jordan Brown, who owns Hoosier Aviation with his wife, Nicole.
“We’re going to throw a Super Bowl party for all of the crew,” Jordan Brown said.
Hoosier Aviation is joining with the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, Terre Haute International Airport, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the City of Terre Haute and the Terre Haute Economic Development Corp. in the “Touch Down in Terre Haute” campaign designed to promote the use of the airport during Super Bowl weekend.
“It’s a great economic boost for the airport,” Doll said of the NFL championship.
Also Monday, Doll presented the financial report for the airport authority for 2011. Largely because of closing the flight school and selling the fixed based operators services, the airport enjoyed a revenue “surplus” instead of a loss, Doll told the board.
Hoosier Aviation is already taking steps to re-open the flight school, Brown noted.
The airport’s 2011 budget had a projected loss of more than $370,000, Doll said. But by managing expenses and generating income, the authority actually saw net income of $198,000, he said.
“We’re starting 2012 in a very good place financially,” Doll said. Selling the fixed base services “has really positioned us to move forward with a better, stronger operating budget in the future. We’ve really turned things around out here at the airport financially,” he said.
For more information on Touch Down in Terre Haute, visit www.touchdownterrehaute.com. For more information on Hoosier Aviation visit www.hoosieraviation.com.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
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