Christina Estes/KJZZ

A plane flies by the air traffic control tower at Scottsdale Airport.

As cooler temperatures move into the Valley, so do big events and tourists.

This fall and winter, visitors to Scottsdale's city-owned airport will notice something new – a $5 million operations center. It’s part of a master plan to deal with growth projections over the next 20 years.

Huge glass windows surround the two story building positioned on what Sarah Ferrara, the city’s aviation planning coordinator, describes as the 50 yard line, “It’s about halfway through the airfield.”

A more efficient position, she said, for the dozen employees who just moved in. They had been spread across the single runway airport with workers in one area monitoring the airfield and access gates, maintenance crews assigned to another area while equipment was stored at a third location.  

“Last year we had a 157,500 operations here at Scottsdale Airport,” Ferrara said. “An operation is somebody that either lands or departs.”

That’s almost 40,000 fewer than a decade ago, but traffic has been increasing since 2010.

SOURCE: FAA Air Traffic Activity System and Scottsdale Airport

Early next year the airport’s terminal building will be torn down and replaced with hangars for larger aircraft typically owned by private companies or individuals. Long term plans call for acquiring more land for more airport development.

Scottsdale Airport Economic Benefits (2014)

• 61 private employers had revenue of $134 million

• 588 aviation jobs with incomes of $40 million

• On an average day, air visitors inject $120,000 into area economy

Source: Scottsdale Airport