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Even during the pandemic, the airport has continued to see\nfolks fly in from around the country, attracted by the convenient location to\namazing coastal living with great weather. NetJets has been the biggest\ncustomer during the coronavirus. All of\nthis bodes well for the future of the airport, which operates in the black and\nhas been under the steady direction of Howard \u2018Howie\u2019 Franklin since 1994. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest challenge for Franklin during his tenure has been to, \u201cwake people up to the possibilities – this is Hilton Head [South Carolina] thirty years ago,\u201d says Franklin. \u201cFolks took the weather for granted.\u201d Brunswick County, home to the airport and communities of Southport and Oak Island, is now the fastest growing county in North Carolina, and the airport is positioned well to take advantage of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Franklin told the State Aviation Journal that developers\naround the country, look at their location on the Intracoastal Waterway, with\nclose proximity to the ocean and recognize that it is possibly the only\nproperty of its kind where the aviation community could have water access.\n\u201cCombine that with our great weather and you have the ideal aviation\ncommunity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Franklin, who grew up on the South Shore of Long Island,\nNY, this area of North Carolina had some similarities to what he experienced in\nhis childhood. That made it easier for Franklin to accept the position as\nairport manager and locate to the area. Although involved in aviation during\nhis career, running an airport was not necessarily what he had envisioned for\nhis later years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Franklin spent 29 years in the U.S. Air Force, 24 of those years at Andrews Air Force Base as part of Special Missions Operations and 18 years on Air Force One, as a Chief Master Sergeant. His bio states that he has more than 300 stories he tells, of his memories of working around Presidents, First Ladies, Vice Presidents, Cabinet Secretaries, VIP guests and the U.S. press corps, which he shares with groups around the country. His airport office contains photos and keepsakes from that era of his life. But also evident in his office are items that speak to the pride he feels about the airport that shares his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Franklin first began to manage the airport, it was just\nhim. To help measure the growth the airport has seen since, there are now ten\nemployees under his leadership. Franklin is quick to attribute the success of\nthe airport to good planning and the need to diversify. There are 16 businesses\nthat are either on the airport or use the airport for their business, and\nFranklin states that more businesses will be added to create a steady revenue\nplan. \u201cGA airports today have to diversify to make it,\u201d says Franklin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6276edit-4.jpg\")
That diversification includes a bait & tackle shop, two flight schools, two mechanics, a charter business, and Brunswick Design Interiors which is located in the new terminal building. Deborah Blomfield, Principal Designer for Brunswick said, \u201cI believe having my studio located at the Cape Fear Regional Jetport is valuable to us for two different reasons. The first one is more obvious. The vast majority of the private jets that fly into the Jetport have homes on Bald Head Island. This provides exposure for us to our target market and convenience for our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second reason has a great deal to do with Franklin.\n\u201cHowie believes in supporting the businesses who support him,\u201d said Blomfield.\n\u201cHe has established a spirit of collaboration amongst the different tenants.\nFor example, Hamilton Realty has made several introductions for me to their\nclients and I plan on working with them when we are ready to build our new\nhome. Most recently, I was engaged to assist in the renovation of the East FBO\nto provide a layout to accommodate Hertz and the new Always Ready Cart Care\nClub Car showroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_6272edit-1.jpg\")
Photos by Kim Stevens.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The airport also provides a public service, serving as a\nstaging point during natural disasters. Franklin says that in the wake of hurricanes,\nthe airport is used by medevac, wildlife agencies, the Coast Guard and the\nSheriff\u2019s Office. \u201cThe airport has had 250 aircraft bringing in supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Franklin believes the future looks bright for the airport,\nhis passion and enthusiasm catchy, as he restates the move towards developing\nan exclusive aviation and marina community. He also hopes to get to the point\nwhere they can use all of the revenue received from fuel sales on new projects\n– something other than just paying the bills. \u201cThose projects include box and\nt-hangars which immediately increases revenue not only for the county and towns\nbut for the state as well,\u201d said Franklin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the writer of this article wrapped up his interview and\nheaded for the door, he recalled Howie\u2019s first words when arriving – \u201cSorry\nabout the weather.\u201d I smiled, glanced back over my shoulder and stepped out of\nthe terminal into a glorious fall day. – ks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Located near the last place on the East Coast going north that palm trees grow naturally, the Cape Fear Regional Jetport, Howie Franklin Field, has grown steadily over the last 25 years to become a general aviation airport of note in North Carolina. The fourth busiest in the state, the airport has seven golf courses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-slider","category-north-carolina"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/For-Lg-Boardedit-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16841"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16851,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16841\/revisions\/16851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}