Nearly 300,000 passengers flew through the St. George Regional Airport last year. That’s more than twice as many as when it opened in 2011.
So, it might surprise you to know that the people guiding those planes are actually located in California, just outside of Los Angeles, because the airport doesn’t have its own air traffic control tower.
That’s unusual for an airport this size, said airport manager Richard Stehmeier.
“We are at a point where we need to have a tower. … It just needs to happen.”
It’s another sign of the growing pains facing St. George as one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities. Washington County’s population has ballooned, going from 138,115 in 2010 to 197,680 in 2022.
The local tourism boom has also exacerbated the need. The number of people visiting nearby Zion National Park jumped from 2.8 million in 2011 to 4.6 million last year. And with new events like the PGA Tour coming to town, city officials expect the demand to keep growing.
With an estimated price tag of between $15 and $20 million, it’s uncertain where the money for a tower would come from.
That’s why St. George welcomed Gov. Spencer Cox to the airport this week, hoping his visit can draw more attention to their needs during the 2024 legislative session.
It’s not hard to see how adding a tower would benefit the region, Cox said.
“There's an opportunity, which is so good for people here in southern Utah, to be able to connect to other airports without having to go to Salt Lake. So it's a huge deal, a huge opportunity here. And we're excited to be able to support this project.”
Convincing the legislature to find the money might be a tougher task, though. The state budget will likely be smaller this year than it has been in the recent past, he said, as the state’s red hot economy cooled down.
“The question is: Do we have the money? And that's the issue that we'll be looking at.”
Cox plans to work with the Legislature, as well as local and federal agencies, to get St. George the money it needs for the tower. In his view, it’s all part of making sure the state prioritizes projects beyond the Wasatch Front.
“It's really good for the Legislature to focus on southern Utah,” Cox said. “That hasn't historically happened. It's happening more, and we've been pushing for that.”
Adding the tower would enhance safety, limit delays and open the door to future growth with service to new destinations, Stehmeier said.
The airport offers flights to Salt Lake City, Denver and Phoenix, as well as seasonal service to Dallas. In the future, it hopes to meet demand for travel to the West Coast with new flights to places like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. He views the tower as the first step toward those long-term goals.
“If we don't get a tower, that will limit that growth. That's a huge thing.”
The city already received $10 million from the Legislature in 2023 to design a tower plan and complete other renovations. The airport doesn’t draw money from the state government for its operations though, Stehmeier said, instead paying for itself through the fees it collects.
As part of its agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration — the agency that would staff the new tower – the airport has until 2027 to complete construction. So he said the clock is ticking.
“That's why we were asking the state of Utah to help out with the funding of it. It's a big need down here.”
