New Master Plan In the Works For Middle Georgia Regional Airport

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) - Major development plans are in the works for the Middle Georgia Regional Airport. Local leaders met on Wednesday to brainstorm ideas that will be used to create a new master plan.

The first step of the master plan is coming up with ideas to figure out how the airport could grow in the future.

"We get the information and we compile it and we use that to help us forecast what's going to happen and help us determine what projects we may or may not want to do," Middle Georgia Regional Airport Manager Doug Faour said.

Faour says this airport plays an important role in the community. According to the Georgia Department of Transportation, it indirectly employees almost 2,000 people and pumps nearly 200 million dollars into the region and state. It offers commercial flights, general aviation, and it's the home to several major aviation businesses. Now officials are trying to make it even better.

"We're going to take a look at what we have and what we need," Faour said.

The FAA requires all airports to update a master plan every 10 years to figure out where they can make improvements. The Barge, Waggoner, Sumner, and Cannon Engineering and Architectural firm is taking on the challenge.

(MARK COUNTS)

"[We got] some good ideas so we'll be able to take that [and] incorporate it into the master plan," Mark Counts, with the design firm, said.

Macon Mayor Robert Reichert says the airport has a lot of potential, it's just up to the community to take advantage of it.

"All collectively get behind it in an effort to build it up and present it to be what it could be," he said.

It takes several months to compile all the information, maps, and inventory to put together a final master plan. The designers say they hope to have it ready and approved by the FAA no later than 2014.