The following article originally appeared in The Pilot on May 10.

When the executive director of the Moore County Airport wanted to know what U.S. Open Week air traffic would be like, he asked the masters of the Augusta, Ga., airport.

"The Augusta trial run showed us what to expect and how the traffic patterns flowed," Michael Nash said. "As a result of the two-day trip, we stopped accepting reservations."

Airport officials are also trying to discourage fliers from planning to leave their aircraft overnight at the airport.

Nash is concerned that the last day of the U.S. Open Championship, which he said will be "a day of waiting," will be a huge bottleneck.

"They’ll be lined up to take off on Sunday night, and with everybody wanting to leave at the same time," he said.

"They’re going to have to wait. We see that as a big issue."

Although non-commercial air traffic through General Aviation will represent the majority of the airport’s traffic during the Open, Moore County’s CCAir Station staff is not underestimating the U.S. Airways traffic.

"We expect it to be busy," said Judy McLaurin, a supervisor for CCAir Inc. who has worked at the Moore County terminal since 1991. "It is a really exciting time, and I love it."

McLaurin said Charlotte commuter flights Sunday-Friday have increased to four or five a day now, including a late-night flight.

In May U.S. Airways and CCAir were working to lock in flights and reservations for commuter flights during the Championship week.

U.S. Airways Express, the only commercial air company at Moore County Airport, began in October of 1991 when the airline contracted with CCAir Inc. to provide the regular commercial passenger service to and from Charlotte.

McLaurin said she had "a great time" during the PGA Championship traffic in 1991 and 1992, when that PGA Tour event brought 30 of the top money winners in golf to Pinehurst No. 2.

"In preparing for the U.S. Open, we’re trying to get all our loose ends done ahead of time," she said. "We’ve extended invitations for volunteers from other stations to come over and help us. During the PGA tournament the airport had tents outside, and there was just all kinds of traffic everywhere.

"It’s a really exciting time. I met so many people and saw a lot of famous faces."

Currently a 19-passenger Jetstream 32 aircraft carries the CCAir traffic. But McLaurin said U.S. Open Week reservation computers show 37-seat DeHavilland Dash 8 planes available at some times to fly to Moore County Airport.

The director of the CCAir division at Moore County also visited Augusta during the Masters to take note of how the airport handled the influx.

Already set to sit at the airport from morning until night from June 14-20 is a charter Boeing 727 Jet from the Midwest that will bring 150 visitors a day to the tournament.

"The 727 will take up the space that five small jets would occupy," Nash said.

One way Nash and his staff hope to help with congestion and airfield parking involves an unusual characteristic of the Moore County Airport — the grass runway that runs parallel to the asphalt apron near the General Aviation terminal.

"We’re very proud of our grass runway," Nash said. "There are not very many of them left now. By closing the grass runway during the Open, it will make a good parking lot."

The main asphalt runway at Moore County is 5,500 feet long. Adjacent to the runway is a freshly asphalted half-moon, currently roped off because of construction work that will increase the ramp area by one-third. This will also offer additional space for plane parking and will help keep the front of the ramp, called an apron, clear for planes to taxi and take off.

The airport is undergoing a two-phase expansion designed to help accommodate the more than 25,000 passengers who fly into and out of the airport each year.

Nash said the airport expansion project’s timing coincides with the U.S. Open but is also a reaction to the increased traffic.

"It certainly won’t hurt to have this finished before the championship," Nash said. "Getting the hangars ready will help us clear off some of the planes stored out on the ramp. The capital improvements going on now are making the airport more accommodating, and the new hangars are necessary to handle the increased traffic here."

Nash said the incoming traffic should not affect local residents who are storing planes in the Moore County Airport hangars.

"We’ve been living with this for a long time," Nash said. "In the beginning, we outgrew the airport almost as soon as it was built. Now we’re getting the expansion and space we need to accommodate the traffic.

"In this first phase we are expanding, and in the next phase we will do some fine-tuning, including rearranging the interior of the terminal and changing the overall look of the airport."

The two-phase construction plan aims to make the Moore County Airport more efficient. Most projects, Nash said, are also directly or indirectly making the airport a safer thoroughfare.

Construction for the first phase should be complete by June 1. To ensure this, the executive director meets with New Sun construction crews once every two weeks to discuss progress. New Sun is the local contractor.

Two new hangars, a T-style hangar and a larger, more traditional hangar, are under construction.

The runway ramp improvements are set off by orange cones but are already complete.

The electrical generator vault project is under way, with workers laying bricks to enclose a generator that, if a power failure occurs, will power the runway lighting and the instruments that help keep the airport safe, as well as communications.

To pay for the improvements, the airport is using some of its revenues, capital improvement federal grant money and also, for the revenue-producing hangars, a loan, Nash said.

"Taxpayers are not paying for these improvements directly," he said.

The money allocated to the airport for capital improvements is part of a July 1998 decision involving former U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.), who announced Moore County Airport’s designation as a "priority" airport in the 1999 transportation appropriations bill.

The designation provided the local airport with Airport Improvement Program grants and directed the Federal Aviation Administration to fund the programs.

All during the U.S. Open, a temporary tower will be staffed with FAA officials to improve the efficiency of embarking and landing aircraft.

"We’ve found that during sporting events, airports see an increase in traffic," said Tanya Wagner, spokesperson for the FAA in Georgia. "The temporary tower we set up during the Super Bowl had an additional radio to communicate with pilots, (and it had) binoculars and communications with the main terminal. The tower is basic but is a measure that helps ensure safety during a time of increased traffic."

"We’re still working out the details of the temporary tower," the FAA spokesperson said.

The FAA plans to move about 15 employees to Pinehurst, including an air traffic controller from Fayetteville, to help with weather forecasts, tower operations and to man a flight service station — again, all in the name of efficiency.

The Moore County Airport installed an Instrument Landing System about two years ago, well before the 2000 deadline, that made radio-wave technology available to pilots to guide their planes safely to the landing strip in poor weather conditions. The ILS system has increased traffic at the airport and prevented many flight cancellations and scheduling delays.

Nash said the Moore County Airport will hire additional temporary linemen, or airport employees trained to handle the needs of General Aviation planes and passengers, to keep bag handling, fueling, parking and storing of planes in hangars efficient. The FAA will not be picking up the tab for the extra personnel on site during the Open but will take on the task of staffing the extra tower and service station.

The flight service station located inside the main terminal will assist pilots with flight plans, weather reports and more, again making the flights in and out of Moore County more streamlined. The FAA requires pilots to file an official flight plan for each trip.

As another measure to make Moore more accommodating to the extra 50,000 visitors during Open Week, Nash said there will be daily aircraft fuel deliveries, boosting the already hefty revenue produced by fuel sales.

"Fuel sales are more than half of the $1.5 million budget produced by aviation here," Nash said. "I’d estimate about $8-900,000 in revenue is in fuel sales."

The Moore County Airport Authority is operating "in the black" and makes a small profit that is put back into the cost of operations. The authority is a five-member board appointed by the country commissioners.

Nash expects the boom in general aviation traffic to continue long past the U.S. Open.

There’s talk of a Ryder Cup tournament and the reality of the 2001 U.S. Women’s Championship.

Being a golfer himself, Nash knows the value of the Sandhills courses, and he said the Open is a big draw for businessmen and golfers alike.

"We want to make a good impression and let people know Moore County Airport is a professional, get-it-done place," Nash said.

"There’s a sense of excitement in the area. It’s great for the Sandhills."