Wasilla City Council adopts airport master plan that guides development through 2045

The Wasilla City Council adopted the 2026 Wasilla Municipal Airport Master Plan without objection Monday. The plan sets a development course for the city's general aviation airport through 2045.

Council Member Tim Johnson said at the council's Sept. 28 meeting that the document will go to the Federal Aviation Administration as an addendum to required grant applications. The city lists a runway extension, Taxiway Kilo, aircraft aprons, aviation lease lots, land acquisition, airport access and perimeter fencing among near-term improvements for 2025 to 2030. It says individual projects, schedules and funding may change, according to its Municipal Airport page.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski secured $3 million in federal funding designated for the runway expansion, according to the Airport Advisory Commission's meeting packet. Wasilla's airport commission backed buying at least 11 parcels for the longer runway.

No one testified at the public hearing. Before the vote, a council member called the plan a long process involving many agencies, companies and private interests, and said it met FAA standards.

After the vote, Johnson said the plan gives Wasilla a chance to expand economically, citing talks with people at companies he works with. "There was even some interest from even very large airplanes operating out of a 5,100-foot runway to support bigger events," he said.

Council Member Ian Crafton praised the staff who worked on the plan and asked that the council get more regular updates on public meetings, since not everybody can attend them.

Mayor Glenda Ledford thanked U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan in her closing comments. "Thank you to Senator Sullivan for all that you do, because he also gave us, what, $12 million for the airport," Ledford said.

Alaska News previously covered the plan's proposal to nearly double the runway, from 3,700 feet toward 6,000 feet, at an estimated $279 million, and its recommendation to raise airport lease rates that have stood at 6 cents a square foot for decades. The council pulled the plan from introduction in September and delayed the hearing.

The Wasilla Airport Advisory Commission is scheduled to take up the master plan and the 5,100-foot runway extension Thursday. Its meeting packet says the runway project is moving toward 6,000 feet, with environmental review underway.