March 31, 2008

MARYNA TELLS ABOUT BELARUS

At long last, Rotary Exchange Student Maryna Melnik gets her chance to tell us about her family and home in Belarus.  She’ll also share some of the experiences and observations of her year as a Rotary Exchange student in our community.

NEXT WEEK – FASTPITCH SOFTBALL.

We’ll have two guests next week. Jay Miller, coach of MSU’s highly successful Softball Bulldogs, will be joined by Lacy Lee Baker, Executive Director of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

LAST WEEK AT ROTARY

Attendance: There were 119 members (82 active, 35 exempt, and 1 honorary) present and 83 members  (45 active, 21 exempt, and 7 honorary) missing.  Two actives are on leave. Membership is now 202.

Invocation and Pledge: Julia Hodges

Guests: Buren Blakenship, new pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, was guest of Bill Parrish. Club guests included John Herring (Scoutmaster), Graham Oakley and John Mark Curtis (Eagle Scouts) from BSA Troop 14; Paul Sims (Starkville Daily News); and Skip Descant (Columbus Commercial Dispatch). They were introduced by President-elect Designate Martha Wells.

Makeups: Sandra Harpole made up in West Point and Lynne Richardson made up on-line.

New Members: Attending their first meeting as members were Margaret Estes and Bill Ford (actives) and Braxton Coombs (honorary), new MSU student body president.

Rotary Minute: The weekly Rotary Minute focused on Boy Scouts. President Ned Browning pointed out that our Club has “a unique relationship with Boy Scouts because we are the chartering organization of Troop 14.”  We sponsor it and “it’s our troop.”  He presented a check of $1,500 to Assistant Scoutmaster John Herring, representing the second half of Rotary’s annual funding support of the troop.

Herring said he brought “two representative sample,” two new Eagle Scouts who told about their Eagle projects.

John Mark Curtis built a box stand on Noxubee Refuge for easier access for handicapped deer hunters.

Graham Oakley built picnic tables which convert into benches for Starkville Academy fans to use during football games.

Scoutmaster Herring then gave a brief report of Troop 14, which he assured us “is alive and well.” He said the roster now has 49 scouts and will soon add 21 new scouts who moved up from Cubs. He named adult leaders and Rotarians who serve on the Scout Committee and reviewed a number of plans and activities for the summer season.

“Scouting wouldn’t happen without boys, it wouldn’t happen without adult leaders, it wouldn’t happen without Rotary!”

AN UPDATE ON GTR AIRPORT

Although the possibility of new and expanded passenger service has been put on hold, Mike Hainsey is excited and enthusiastic about the future of the airport. The GTR Airport Executive Director, who in January was named by the FAA as the Commercial Service Airport Manager of the Year for the Southern Region, says the explosion of industrial growth on and around the airport is good reason for optimism.

Before moving further into his update, Hainsey gave a brief review of the airport’s history.  “Regionalism is the key,” he pointed out. None of the communities could support commercial air service. But Starkville, Columbus, and West Point could join forces to build a regional airport. Rotarian Stu Vance was one of the founders and Starkville provided the most funding. In 1987, a Regional Authority Board was established. Rotarian Frank Chiles is Starkville’s representative, Rotarian Sonny Kelly represents Oktibbeha County on the Board. “Board members are politically aware, but more importantly, they are good business people,” Hainsey said.

The airport has been self sufficient for 22 years, operating on grants from FAA, MDOT, and a passenger ticket tax (facility fee) that can only be used for infrastructure.

Safety is the top priority and communities help on major projects, Hainsey said.

Exciting things are happening at GTRA. The road from Hwy 82 to the airport is being 4-laned and major new industries have come on stream and are already expanding.

American Eurocopter broke ground just before Mike took the helm at the airport. Its parent company, EADS, is the second largest defense contractor in the world. A major expansion (22,000 square feet) is underway.

SeverCorr’s $800 million steel plant is in operation across the road from the airport and is adding a $500 million Phase II expansion.

Aurora Flight Sciences is also building additional facilities for production of pilotless aircraft.

The PACCAR factory to build diesel engines for Peterbilt trucks is rapidly taking shape between the airport and Highway 82.

“This area is growing. International companies can’t stay away from here. All the communities have played critical roles, but Mississippi State University, the Raspet Flight Laboratory, and the University’s computing power are huge draws,” Hainsey said.

“Another neat thing is that 80 percent of new jobs are from expansions  – more jobs mean more people.”

Last month, there was a 30 percent increase in commercial passengers over the same month in 2007. Also during the month, fifteen large cargo plans flew in with parts for the West Point plant assembling MRAP vehicles for the military. That operation currently has 940 employees.

The next step for the airport is getting ready for service from an additional commercial carrier. The Board has plans for expansion of facilities to meet future needs. FAA is the primary source of funding.

But nothing is going to happen soon. The airline industry had postured its services based on $80 per barrel oil. With oil hitting $110/barrel, fuel prices have become the airlines’ number one problem. That’s why Delta has announced it will pull out of Meridian. That’s also why airlines are talking mergers.

“We’re in good shape in the Golden Triangle. All these companies have international interests. The third and fourth destination of passengers flying from GTRA have been German cities. GTR is growing.”

Mike concluded with some hints for flying from GTR. Get to the airport early – at least an hour before scheduled flight time. Get your seat assignment ahead of time. It’s best to get your tickets on Delta’s website;  then if something happens to your flight, the airline will work with you.

He said that ASA does not cancel flights if seats aren’t full. ASA is under contract with Delta and gets paid to fly with or without passengers. Cancellations result from decisions at Atlanta. If there are delays and ATL traffic controllers have to choose between a small 40-passenger aircraft and a 747 or larger, it’s obvious which one will get canceled. “The cancellation rate for GTR flights in the last 6 months was only 2 percent.”

Carey Hardin introduced our fellow Rotarian who is a graduate of the USAF Academy with a masters degree in business from Webster University. He retired from the Air Force with several thousand hours of flight experience. Carey revealed that Hainsey had one very close call when a wing came off a T-38 trainer pulling out of a loop. “The student pilot bailed out immediately but Mike wasn’t able to eject from the plummeting plane until it was only 500 feet above the ground.  He landed in a tree but was not seriously injured.

Other facts Carey shared: Hainsey is former director of search and rescue for the Mississippi Civil Air Patrol and a co-founder of Dreams on Wings that flies children battling serious illnesses. He has been named Angel Flight Southeast Pilot of the Year. He is now in his second year of a 2-year term as president of Mississippi Airports Association.

Best of all, Mike is a member of Starkville Rotary Club.