The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) announced late last week they were suspending enrollment to the aviation program and ceasing operations at the Crookston Airport at the end of the calendar year.
The Crookston Airport Commission is currently in the process of hiring an engineer for their long-term master plan and they had discussed approaching UMC and the University of North Dakota (UND) to see what more they could provide at the airport.
Crookston Airport Commission Chairman Fred Parnow called the news unfortunate and said the commission doesn’t know what effect this might have on their master planning. “The university’s make their decisions based on the input they have. I don’t have any inside information on whether the decision was made on the Crookston level or if it came out of Minneapolis, out of the main campus. We’re not privy to that,” said Parnow. “I think it’s unfortunate. It brings students to the Crookston area. It brings activity to the Crookston Airport. And time will tell how it will affect those people. The program has been there for many, many years with great success and a lot of great alumni out of that program that support the university. At this point, it’s a little early to tell how it’s going to affect the Crookston Airport. We just hired a new engineer plan to develop a master plan for the future of the airport. We don’t know how that affects it yet, just to early to tell at this point.”
Parnow said he wasn’t sure what UND’s plans are for utilizing the airport for training. “We have not had a chance to totally digest how the future works with that program,” said Parnow. “But certainly there is a lot of UND activity at the Crookston Airport. They utilize it a lot for their training and I think it’s just to early to tell at this point.”
Crookston Airport Manager Lowell Miller said he’s also not sure of the effect the program’s suspension will have either, adding there is a waitlist for hangers so it possibly could just mean less activity. “There will be a little less business going on, less activity,” said Miller. “There won’t be the training environment. We’ll still have renters and our maintenance here, just not that aspect of it. What happens in the future we’ll see when more is revealed by both parties I guess.”
Commissioner Andy Gjerswold said it was a disappointing development as there is a lot of potential in the aviation industry. “I think there is a lot of potential in the aviation industry right now and it’s kind of disappointing we couldn’t tap into that and grow the program more,” said Gjerswold. “The administration, it’s their program and they have to do what they see is best for it.
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