BRYANT, AR – The Arkansas Department of Aeronautics State Airport Aid Grant has been awarded to the Saline County Regional Airport. It is a 90/10 grant in the amount of $34,732.68.

This grant will be used to install a ceilingometer to the airport’s Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS). A ceilingometer is an instrument used to report cloud height and sky conditions, for example; overcast at 5,000 feet. This new instrument will make Saline County Regional Airport safer for pilots by knowing the cloud height. During instrument flight operations, pilots like to know where the bottom of the clouds are and when they will break into clear skies.

The addition of a ceilingometer will bring the rating for the airport from AWOS-II up to AWOS-III. This upgrade will allow the airport to add Saline County’s weather reports to the National Weather Broadcast System. Adding the weather will help increase the traffic since pilots can get weather reports via internet. A lot of small airlines and private owners do not allow their planes to land at airports that do not report the weather.

The total cost of this project is $38,591.87 and was awarded to J & R Engineering of Riverside, MO.

The Saline County Regional Airport Commission has been working hard to make improvements to the airport and increase operations. This grant will allow the airport to continue to be 100% self- sufficient.

To learn more about this grant or the airport, please contact;

Dane Pruitt
Airport Manager
Saline County Regional Airport
Email: airport@salinecounty.org
Phone: 501-672-9809