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- By Native News Online Staff
An airport owned by the Navajo Nation received $8.1 million to upgrade its runway. Chinle Airport’s runway was once riddled with potholes and cracks was recently resurfaced.
The “rehabilitated” runway’s surface was a menace to aircraft landing on it. Now smoother and safer landings are taking place.
Chinle Airport accommodates some 1,200 flight lands annually. Many of the flight in and out of the airport are crucial emergency medical flights carrying precious human cargo.
“Many of us are familiar with the rural challenges on the Navajo Nation, especially when accessing medical care,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said. “In critical situations when air transport is necessary, the old runway conditions made it nearly impossible.”
The airstrip and its medical flights support the Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility. The newly resurfaced runway will enhance access to off-Navajo Nation healthcare facilities for years to come.
President Nygren said the upgrade brings much-needed efficiency and safety to pilots and patients landing and taking off. The rehabilitation, as it’s called, corrected multiple potholes, cracks and deterioration to the point that it was unsafe, he said.
“We are ecstatic about the renovations to the Chinle Airport,” said Mike Brown, regional director of business development for Eagle Air Med that has used the airport for years.
Kevin Martan, assistant chief pilot for Eagle Air Med’s Fixed-Wing operation, said his company partnered with local healthcare providers in the Chinle area for more than 30 years.
“Following the renovation, the Chinle runway is smooth, clean and fully usable,” Martan said. “It is a total night and day difference. The extended surface has created improved landing conditions for our fixed-wing assets.”
The rehabilitation project was an infrastructure priority for President Nygren. It was completed in just 120 days between March and July by contractor Sunland Asphalt and Construction, LLC.
Funding for the project came from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Navajo Division of Transportation.
NDOT Director Tom Platero said he was pleased Sunland Asphalt and Construction made a point to hire local residents as workers.
The project’s completion marks the end of a two-decade-long journey to secure funding and bring the vital airport into top compliance. The timing of a runway repaving is usually between eight and 12 years.
The Chinle Airport is one of five owned and operated by the Navajo Nation.
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