Piedmont Triad International Airport's New Strategy: Economic Development

Piedmont Triad International Airport is the region's largest airport, offering 57 flights to such destinations as New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.  But PTI's efforts to gain new passenger service have been challenged by airline consolidation, poor economic conditions and other factors. 

PTI is now looking at a different undertaking that it hopes will take off:  economic development. The Triad Business Journal's Katie Arcieri has been covering the story and for this week's Business Report, she tells WFDD's Emily McCord that the airport believes it is a winning strategy. 

"A lot of aerospace companies are looking right now for a large swath of land where they can create plant operations and create hundreds of jobs," says Arcieri. "They really see their future as an economic development airport. They have land and ample infrastructure to land these aviation tenants."

Arcieri says their plan is meant to also boost passenger traffic, which has still not reached pre-recession levels of more than 1 million passengers in 2008. 

"The idea is if we land a company here, they're going to create thousands of jobs and suddenly there's going to be a supplier spin-off and there's going to be more companies locating here that will need access to flights...and suddenly you have a lot more passenger traffic demand."

She adds that PTI still engages with potential airlines to maintain the relationships that could bring more flights to the airport. Officials say it's a matter of time before they land a new tenant there. Arcieri says actually landing a new company will depend on a number of outside factors, including state tax incentives. 

"You can only can control what you can control. The airport is working in tandem with state and local officials to land that big fish," says Arcieri. "They say it's a great space to have one of these tenants be there, but there's a lot things that come into play."

The Business Report on 88.5 WFDD is a partnership with the Triad Business Journal.