20 AIRFIELD MAINTENANCE October 2026 AirportImprovement.com BLV Between commercial traffic from Allegiant Air and military support missions from Scott Air Force Base, MidAmerica St. Louis Airport (BLV) logs about 18,000 aircraft operations per year. And it handles them all with a staff of 21 employees, including part-timers. That math, along with the nature of its traffic and an emphasis on safety, prompts BLV to outsource daily airfield inspections and markings maintenance to outside contractors. This year, the budget for those line items is $250,000, including rubber removal, which accounts for a significant portion of the expenses. Some practices are different at BLV because it is one of only 21 joint-use airports in the United States. The military owns its side of the airfield (including Runway14R-32L), St. Clair County owns the civilian side (including Runway 14L-32R), and the two are connected by a 7,000-foot taxiway. Snow removal duties are shared, with the military often using the longer 10,000-foot commercial runway when winter weather is a limiting factor. “It is definitely a symbiotic relationship,” says Airport Director Darren James, a retired U.S. Air Force member who spent years at Scott. “And each entity is responsible for its own infrastructure.” Fixed-base operator services for BLV’s limited general aviation activity are provided by Alliance Ground International, which also supports Allegiant Air. Civilian tenants include a produce company with a 56,000-square- foot cold storage warehouse on the cargo apron of Runway 14L-32R. Avports is both a tenant and the third-party contractor responsible for conducting daily airfield inspections and providing aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) services. “Our staff is very small, [but] I do have an Airport Operations Specialist,” says James. Still, he sometimes has to leverage employees in other positions for extra hands on the airfield. Fortunately, the entire team is qualified to assist because they have all “grown up in the operations world,” he explains. Given this dynamic, it takes extra time to hire, onboard and train new employees; DARREN JAMES MidAmerica St. Louis Takes a Cooperative Approach to Airfield Markings FACTS&FIGURES Project: Airfield Markings Assessment & Maintenance Location: MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, in Mascoutah, IL Airport Owners: St. Clair County, IL; U.S. Dept. of Defense Key Benefits: Joint-use airport saved time, money & staff hours by using cooperative purchasing contract for airfield marking assessment & maintenance; using separate contractors for assessment & maintenance validated previous strategy/work 2026 Markings Budget: $250,000 Scope of Assessment: Runway 14L-32R (10,000 ft. x 150 ft.) & 3 associated taxiways Assessment Timeline: 2 days in Oct. 2025 Maintenance & Remediation: About 10 days in Sept. 2026 Rubber Removal: 300,000 sq. ft. Surface Prep: 260,000 sq. ft. of cleaning; 8,000 sq. ft. of markings removal New Painted Markings: 42,000 sq. ft. (330 gals. of paint) Other Elements: Surface-painted holding position sign; preformed thermoplastic markings at Taxiway G Daily Inspections: Avports Assessment Contractor: Sightline Inc. Maintenance Services Contractor: Hi-Lite Airfield Services LLC Cooperative Purchasing Entity: Sourcewell Preformed Thermoplastic Markings: PPG/AirMark Maintenance Reporting Software: Veoci; ManagerPlus Annual Aircraft Operations: About 18,000 Tenants: Allegiant Air & 6 others BY MICHELLE GARDNER
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