Growth, New Flights on Airport Agenda

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The new Cortez Municipal

Airport director wants to

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maintain inexpensive flights,

add more airline service

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and expand the airport's role

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as an economic development

partner in Southwest Colorado.

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You're watching the local

news network brought

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to you by TrueWest Auto of Cortez.

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I'm Wendy Graham Settle.

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Jeremy Patton is the new pilot

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at the helm of the

Cortez Municipal Airport.

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He started work on January 7th

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and succeeds Russ Macon

who retired after 41 years

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of service with the city of Cortez.

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Patton most recently

served as a firefighter

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in Los Alamos, New Mexico

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and worked as an air traffic

controller in the Navy.

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As a kid growing up in New

Mexico, he was a frequent visitor

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to Southwest Colorado and

has family who live in Macas.

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The Federal Aviation

Administration has deemed

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the Cortez Airport as an essential airport

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and therefore provides assistance

to maintain air service

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to rural Southwest Colorado.

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But Patton says, he'd like to provide more

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than just an essential service.

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He'd like to expand the airport's role

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as an economic driver in the region.

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So we want to expand a little bit,

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we want to get some more business in here.

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A bigger terminal is on the agenda,

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maybe a larger or additional

planes with the current airline

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and to provide more flights out of Cortez.

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Boutique Air, a small regional carrier

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serves the Cortez market

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with inexpensive flights

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to destinations throughout the West.

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A number of passengers

come from other communities

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in the region to take

advantage of Boutique Air's

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low fares for work and vacation travel.

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Before the pandemic, the Cortez Airport

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saw nearly 10,000 passengers

through its doors.

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It also serves as a base

for military operations,

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a tanker base during firefighting season

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and services private jets.

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Patton says he has a commitment

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to maintain low fares out of Cortez

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but he also says the

airport can play a role

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in bringing out of town

destination visitors

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to the area in partnership

with visit Mesa Verde Country

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and other economic

development organizations.

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And that's the thing we

want to maintain that

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we want to maintain cheap flights

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and we want to attract people here.

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It's not just a terminal

to get out of Cortez.

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You know, I mean

obviously people live here

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that want to go somewhere,

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Like I want to get a flight

to Vegas on the books.

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You know, that'd be

good for the community.

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So I must drive all the way

to Durango or Farmington

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but we want to bring people in.

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There's a lot to offer here

that I think is overlooked

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or is not as rated as it should be.

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And Mesa Verde is awesome.

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The outdoors is,

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there's so many things to do.

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The community is building,

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there's a lot of new shops coming in,

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there's a lot of room for growth.

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So, you know, those are things to consider

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in the next 5, 10 years.

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If you'd like to know

more about the airport

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you can reach Patton at

cortezairport@cityofcortez.com.

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Thanks for watching this edition

of the Local News Network.

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I'm Wendy Graham Settle.

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