Ground broken on Salisbury Airport runway extension as aircraft technician school nears completion

SALISBURY, Md. – New opportunities are taking flight at the Salisbury Airport. Officials broke ground on a major runway extension project Thursday afternoon. And, they toured the airport’s state-of-the-art Aircraft Maintenance Technician School, which is nearing completion.

Extending the Runway, Expanding Possibilities

The runway extension has been years in the making, with $18.5 million in federal funding supporting the efforts. With the next round of efforts, the runway’s length will stretch from 6,400 feet to 7,600 feet.

“This extension will not only enhance our airport’s capacity, but it will also open new doors for economic growth, greater connectivity, and opportunities,” said Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano.

Making the runway longer will enable it to handle larger, heavier planes.

Currently, the airport sees around six Piedmont Airlines flights per day. Piedmont’s President and CEO Eric Morgan says that numbers fluctuate throughout the year, with higher numbers in the summertime. However, expanding the runway, he says, could also expand Pidemont’s customer base.

“It allows us to provide a better product and customer service,” Morgan said. “For years, we’ve been restricted in the number of customers that we could carry out of Salisbury due to the length of the runway. With the extension, under all weather conditions, regardless of if there’s a full load of fuel on the plane, we should be able to take the customers out.”

Airport a Statewide Priority, Says Governor

Governor Wes Moore was part of the group that drove shovels into the dirt Thursday. He says that enhancing the airport’s capabilities is not just a Salisbury or Wicomico County priority, but one for the state.

Already, the airport supports more than 1,400 jobs, driving $78 million in business revenue and $92 million in personal income.

“Salisbury Airport is one of the key engines of trade, and it’s one of the key engines of commerce for our entire state,”  Gov. Moore said. “This is a greater opportunity for more people to understand that this can, will be, and should be a place of destination.”

Aircraft Maintenance Technician School Nearing Completion

Meanwhile, the airport’s Aircraft Maintenance Technician school is nearing completion. The 12-month program will welcome its first cohort of students in the spring. It’s a partnership between the airport, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Piedmont Airlines, and Salisbury Wicomico Economic Development.

“This is going to be a really unique opportunity—the fact that they can go to school here, they can earn their license here, and they can choose to work here if they would like to,” Morgan said.

Morgan says that the pipeline of skilled workers that will come out of this program will benefit more sectors than just the aircraft industry. “The skills that these folks will come out will are highly attractive and desirable skills.”

Gov. Moore echoed that sentiment in his remarks. He added that he was “deeply proud of how this project turned out,” and shared that the state has invested $3 million in the efforts.

“This project is a huge part of the strategy in which we said that we wanted to create pathways to work, wages, and wealth for all Marylanders, and not just some,” Gov. Moore said.