Khloi Rose Charles
May 24, 2016
Shrimp season starts off Louisiana shores on a steady keel
May 24, 2016
Literally thousands of employees work on platforms in the Gulf of Mexico each year, which means that a reliable airport is needed locally to safely transport the workers to and from the job site.
Luckily, the area has exactly that: the Leonard Miller Jr. Airport in Galliano. It’s a facility that continues to grow and evolve, even during the current economic downturn in the industry.
Expansion projects have kept morale high at the airport, even as work within the industry has slowed, due to the sagging price of oil.
Located on Airport Road in Galliano between East 139th and East 141st streets, the facility is a huge coup to our local economy, according to Chett Chiasson, Port Fourchon executive director. He says the facility is invaluable to local oil and gas, and Lafourche Parish is fortune to have it positioned on its soil.
“The airport is such a huge part of what we’re able to do,” he said. “Companies have come in and they’ve invested a lot of money and we’re grateful for that, certainly. The airport is growing at a very steady rate. That’s something that we’ve been very happy to see and that we expect to continue.”
Several recently completed projects have been a huge source of pride for people at the airport.
The attention-grabbing renovation is the big one — the $29 million project that Chevron recently completed. It’s a complete overhaul of the company’s airport operations that aims to move 6,000 additional workers through the airport per month — doubling the activity the facility sees in a 30-day period.
Chevron officials have said the project is complete, and all that’s left for the oilfield juggernaut is moving all of its Gulf of Mexico operations to the Galliano facility — a process that will take place slowly over the next few years.
Warner Williams, the vice president of Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico business unit, said the company’s Leeville facility has already shut down and moved its business to the Galliano facility.
Later this year, the company is planning to move its Intracoastal City flights to Galliano, as well. Before long, Chevron’s operations in Venice will also be based out of Galliano, thanks to the project, which Williams said will create jobs and be huge to the economy of Lafourche Parish.
“This facility upgrade is proof of our dedication to the community, and it’s proof that we recognize the Gulf of Mexico is the cornerstone of what we do in our business,” Williams said. “The people in this area are good people. There is no better place for us to have this airbase than in Galliano.”
Councilman Jerry LaFont agrees. He said during a ribbon cutting for the facility that it’s a blessing to have the project in southern Lafourche Parish.
“It’s a big thing for us,” the councilman said. “It’s great to see the commitment they’ve made to this area.”
But while the Chevron expansion generates a lot of attention, Chiasson said other, smaller projects have those with the facility excited, as well.
Last year, the airport completed a $3 million ramp expansion project — work that was necessary to keep pace with some of the other growth that’d taken place at the facility.
While that project was being done, Chiasson said the airport also enhanced its drainage — something that will continue into the future.
“(The expansion) is basically just giving us extra parking area for planes,” he said. “It gives planes access to other areas in the airport. We’re happy to report that that’s completed, because it’s a huge coup to our facility.”
RLC, a privately-owned helicopter company that lifts out of Galliano more than 6,000 times a year, is also expanding its presence, according to Chiasson.
He said RLC is making moves to increase the frequency of its flights, building additional helipads and expanding its property.
Add it all together and it’s a string of victories for the airport, which has changed drastically in the past 15 years.
The airport was once under control of parish government — a relationship that ended in 2001 when the Greater Lafourche Port Commission took it under its wing.
Since that time, air traffic has increased by more than 4,000 percent, according to statistics on Fourchon’s website. It’s a number that will likely increase as more of Chevron’s work comes into Galliano.
“It’s amazing to see,” Chiasson said. “The airport has grown so much.”
The Leonard Miller Jr. Airport in Galliano has grown immensely in the past 15 years since the Greater Lafourche Port Commission took control of its operations. The airport has increased its air traffic by more than 4,000 percent in those 15 years — a number that continues to grow each year.
