Mesa Airlines, SkyWest — a regional carrier for United Airlines — and Envoy Air — a regional carrier for American Airlines, notified Columbia Regional Airport (COU) in Columbia, Mo. Saturday evening that they decided to temporarily suspend operations at COU due to what they described as poor runway conditions and safety concerns.
The main runway, (2-20) closed for maintenance April 1, with an expected maintenance time estimated at a maximum of 75 days.
In a response release of the airlines’ decision to cancel flights, COU assured passengers that their runways, particularly runway 13-31, are safe and compliant. COU said that airport staff and external engineers met several times with the airlines before the runway maintenance began. There was no prior indication of any issues with using runway 13-31 while while 2-20 was out of use.
COU, City of Columbia staff, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials and COU airline partners met via conference calls on Monday to discuss the issues.
“During these meetings, we were able to get a clear understanding of the concerns the pilots have regarding the runway 13-31 and 2-20 intersection,” Interim City Manager John Glascock said. “Their comments were consistent with the feedback we received over the weekend when the concerns were first brought to our attention. They have indicated that they are concerned about the ‘crown’ on runway 2-20 where it intersects runway 13-31.”
The crown is an FAA requirement in all main runways to assist with runway water drain-offs, the same way a road is crowned to assist in draining water. It can, however, cause the feeling of hitting a bump during takeoff and landing, Glascock said, referring to pilot concerns provided.
“Even though runway 13-31 is fully FAA compliant, we want to address the pilots’ safety concerns and ensure our customers have a good experience while traveling in and out of COU,” Glascock said. “We have listened to the feedback from the airlines and our customers, and we’re taking action. We are diligently working with Burns & McDonnell and the FAA to evaluate and modify the elevation of the crown. We will make minor modifications to the crown that will allow for a smoother takeoff and landing while maintaining compliance with the FAA.”
The minor modifications will begin following runway 13-31’s closure this week. During this process, the airport will be closed to all commercial and general aviation traffic. The airport anticipates opening back up to all air traffic on April 16, depending on weather and other factors.
Prior to the airport’s closure, Air Wisconsin, another regional carrier for United Airlines, was still utilizing the airport as normal.
“Again, I sincerely apologize to our customers who have been and will be impacted by this closure,” Glascock said. “We will work as quickly and efficiently as possible with our partners to make the modifications and begin air service again soon.”