How much is too much?
Or to be more precise: Could our quaint, little airport – better known for flight instruction and private planes than commercial jet service – eventually become so busy that it forever changes the face and feel of our seaside slice of heaven?
“The community really hasn’t talked about that,” said Vero Beach Planning and Development Director Tim McGarry. “We’re enjoying success at the airport and, right now, people are happy and excited about the possibility of more jobs. There’s certainly plenty of room for expansion.
“But can we be too successful? Can we get too busy?” he added. “That’s a good question.”
That question kept gnawing at me throughout Elite Airways’ celebration of the one-year anniversary of its service between Vero Beach and New Jersey, even as I welcomed the announcement that Islip, N.Y., will be among the airline’s new, non-stop destinations when it expands its service in the spring.
I grew up on Long Island. I still have family and friends there. The new Elite flights would make traveling to visit with them much more convenient.
But I live here.
And I live here for a reason: I love the small-town charm, the quality of life, our sense of community.
I don’t want us to lose the Rockwellian characteristics that make this place so special, merely for the sake of commerce and convenience. As much as I want to see our airport thrive and be a boon to our local economy, I don’t want it to become so heavily trafficked that it alters our way of life.
I hope we don’t sell our souls and forget what makes Vero Beach so different from everywhere else.
So I smiled when Elite President and CEO John Pearsall told the festive, Friday-night gathering at Vero Beach Regional Airport that “everybody’s been asking for Islip,” but also listened carefully as he shared his plans for the airline’s future here.
For the past year, local travelers have boarded direct flights to Newark, N.J., in numbers that have made the route Elite’s hottest ticket, prompting the airline to offer additional destinations.
In March, the company will add flights to and from Islip and Asheville, N.C., as well as service to Tallahassee when the Florida Legislature is in session. And Pearsall said flights to the Boston area, a Midwest city and the airline’s home base in Maine are on his radar.
In addition, Elite has entered into preliminary discussions with Vero Beach Airport Director Eric Menger in hopes of building a fleet maintenance facility on the airport grounds.
“This,” Pearsall said, “has become an enormous success for us.”
So much so, in fact, that others in the industry have taken notice – Menger said he has had conversations with representatives from other airlines that are closely monitoring Elite’s numbers.
Some of those other carriers are larger airlines interested in providing service to major hubs, such as Atlanta and Charlotte, from which travelers could connect to flights across America.
And while Menger sees possibilities in those discussions, he assures us that “We’re not becoming Orlando or West Palm Beach, or even Melbourne.”
But the airport is growing – in terms of service and stature, if not size.
The most noticeable transformation began 18 months ago, when Vero Beach Municipal Airport was rebranded Vero Beach Regional Airport for marketing purposes. Then, a year ago, Elite arrived and began offering twice-weekly flights to Newark, eventually expanding its service to four days per week and adding flights to Naples.
Now, new destinations are being added and, based on what we’ve seen, there’s no reason to doubt that more are coming. Pearsall, who ignored both the naysayers and numbers when he decided to return commercial air service to Vero Beach, appears eager to double down on his investment here.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Indeed, no one I spoke with expressed any real concerns – immediate or long-term – about the impending increase of activity at the airport. To the contrary, most folks said they’re excited to see the facility being utilized to such an extent.
“We’re not going to be anyone’s major hub, but Elite Airways seems to be filling a need in a very positive manner,” County Commissioner Bob Solari said. “Getting the airline here has been a good addition to the community. I haven’t heard any complaints.”
Nor has Carter Taylor, the acting executive director of the Indian River Neighborhood Association.
Taylor said his watchdog group supports Menger’s efforts to “get the most out of the facility” and has found no cause for concern that the airport will become so busy that it negatively impacts the community’s quality of life.
“That would be a high-grade problem to have – one I wouldn’t mind having – but it’s not a problem that has been on our radar,” Taylor said. “Typically, the problem you have with a busy airport is the noise from the bigger jets taking off and coming in, but that’s the sound of progress.”
Most of the thousands of flights into and out of the airport continue to be relatively small planes.
“I don’t think anyone’s too concerned that the airport will become too successful,” he added. “Maybe, someday, it could become a problem, and we’ll certainly keep an eye on it and respond if we need to. We don’t want to become another West Palm Beach.
“But it’s still a relatively small, regional airport, which is a big part of its appeal.”
The airport property covers 1,750 acres, or about one-fourth of the total area of the city. Menger said that’s plenty of room to handle the projected growth in operations.
With just its existing infrastructure – runways, taxiways, tower and terminal – the airport could probably add 100,000 more takeoffs and landings annually.
“We’re at 230,000 now, and our maximum capacity is 330,000,” Menger said. “That would be very busy and we might need to add taxiways, but we could handle it. We wouldn’t need to build new runways.”
Such projections are included in the Vero Beach’s airport master plan, which was approved by the City Council in June and the Federal Aviation Administration in November.
Menger said putting together the plan was a three-year process that included input from the FAA, Florida Department of Transportation, the city Airport Commission, a county Metropolitan Planning Organization advisory committee, airport staff and tenants, and local citizens groups.
“We wanted public input,” Menger said, “and we held several public meetings.”
Barbara Drndak, a longtime Airport Commission member and its current chairman, echoed the sentiments of Menger and others who said there’s little reason to fear the facility will grow to a level where it diminishes or disturbs the quality of life in Vero Beach.
“There’s room for smart growth,” she said, “but you’re not even going to notice it.”
Growth in airport operations is limited by its geographic boundaries – the airport grounds can’t grow in physical size unless new property is purchased, and that’s not likely to happen any time soon – so while it’s possible to see business growth on the grounds, there’s little room to add or lengthen runways that would be needed to significantly expand commercial air service.
“They’re kind of hemmed in,” Taylor said.
Then there’s the economy, which has in the past – and could again – alter the master plan’s projections. The airport had more takeoffs and landings in 2002 than it does now, but those numbers plummeted during the Great Recession, falling to fewer than 170,000 in 2011.
So it could be many years before the number of takeoffs and landings climb beyond 300,000 – if they ever do.
“We’re not going to build things and wait for someone to show up,” Menger said. “When they come, we will build it. Right now, we have what we need. We’re still a regional airport in what’s still a relatively small county.
“The bottom line is: The airport is here to serve the needs of the public,” he added. “What happens from here is up to the community.”
