News - Stephenville International Airport

The most recently appointed member to the board of Stephenville Airport Corpor-ation says the airport will face some challenges in light of North America's changing economy.

Shawn Tilley, former chair of the Bay St. George Development committee, or 'Plan B committee' as it's been called, was appointed to the board by the Department of Transportation and Works.

Area MHA Joan Burke recommended Mr. Tilley for the seat recently vacated by Stephenville businessman and town councillor Bob Byrnes.

"Mr. Tilley is familiar with the local community, he has a Masters in Business Administration and we just felt with his involvement with the community, and certainly the skills from his academic background, that we thought he'd be an asset to the board," says Minister Burke.

Mr. Tilley, a business instructor at College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville, says he hopes to use his business expertise to help the board and the airport management develop its marketing and financial controls.

"A community-based board needs to have broad viewpoints there," he says. " Many, if you're going to get the full impacts of the community. So I think I add that to the board."

Mr. Tilley says the board, under the direction of acting chair Danny McCann, have extended membership invitations to representatives from Port aux Basques and Burgeo.

Mr. Tilley says the board has also had discussions about moving to a more open communication model to inform people of what's happening at the airport.

"The fact is, it's a community-owned asset, really," he says. "People don't understand what that means. It doesn't mean the town owns the airport."

He says the airport is struggling financially but the hope is that by having the community develop a sense of awareness concerning the airport's issues, people will understand and grasp what the major issues are.

Ultimately, Mr. Tilley says the board remains committed to making the airport profitable.

"The bottom line is that the board has got to make decisions working with management that moves that sustainability forward, given what the situation may be," he says.

"We don't know what the recession we're supposedly in right now and ... how that's going to impact air traffic. So we might be playing with a deck that's slightly changed."

Outside investors

Mr. Tilley says the airport corporation has been in talks with several companies during the last few months in regards to an investment into the airport.

He says it's hard to bring investors in from other regions, and with the current state of the U.S. stock markets, financing is not easy.

"But the thing we draw as a positive for us on the board is somebody else with money thinks our infrastructure is good. That, by itself, is a big positive."

Mr. Tilley says one possible investor has interests at other airports, meaning this airport could possibly tap into that and be part of a network - and no longer operate as a standalone operation.

"That investor may never show up, but the fact that they're engaged in discussions with an investment here is good by itself."

Acting airport board chair Danny McCann says the board is still in talks with the company, and they hope to strike a deal.

"We just have to make sure that we dot our I's and cross our T's and at the end of the day we protect the asset in the event that they don't do what they say they're going to do," says Mr. McCann.

"There's been telephone conversations, and if this works out there's even probably more good news," he says.