november-december 2021 - 16

OPERATIONS
AUTHOR Mike Dunn
At RFD, carriers experience
the same access to the
Chicago metropolitan area-
but with far less congestion.
CHICAGO ROCKFORD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Making Air Cargo a Priority
for Smaller Regional Airports
BETWEEN AN e-commerce boom, supply chain shortages
and intense consumer demand, there's little
doubt: It's a new era for the cargo freight industry.
During 2020, consumers became
accustomed to - even thrived on -
online shopping. Retailers big and small
responded by pivoting their attention
toward e-commerce. And with little
evidence that those trends will ever
shift back to the way they were before,
the freight marketplace is ripe with
opportunity.
Chicago Rockford International
Airport (RFD) is an ideal location for
packages to arrive in the Midwest before
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MIKE DUNN
As executive director for the Chicago Rockford International
Airport (RFD), Mike Dunn is responsible for securing opportunities
for the growth of the airport through additional cargo and
passenger business as well as working with government officials
to secure grants and additional support and advocacy. Dunn was
named to his role in 2012, and since that time, RFD has become
the biggest economic engine in the region and was recently
ranked by the FAA as the 17th largest cargo airport in the U.S.
Previous to his role as ED, Dunn was on the airport's board of
directors, where he was a tireless advocate for the organization's
growth and enhancement.
being dispersed throughout North
America.
To that end, RFD handles up to
40 UPS flights daily on average and is
one of Amazon's five busiest air hubs. It
didn't come to fruition by happenstance,
but through careful vision casting and
infrastructure investment.
Seizing the Day as
a Small Airport
As RFD maximized its opportunities as
a regional airport on the outskirts of a
major metropolitan area, air freight for
decades has been a core component of
the RFD strategic growth plan.
RFD's cargo footprint began even
before e-commerce did. Its first major
deal happened in the early 1990s, when
UPS struck a deal with Wisconsin-based
Lands' End. UPS saw the marriage of
many factors here: easy interstate access,
a central location, inexpensive land for
development, and the ability to get
wheels up quickly at all times.
The shipping carrier found that
moving freight in and out of RFD was
hassle-free and fast. So, RFD's relationship
with UPS grew over the years,
with the airport eventually becoming
the second-largest UPS hub in all of
North America.
With e-commerce growing over the
past decade, leaders at RFD knew the
time was right for strategic investment
in the cargo side of their business. The
RFD team approved a $17 million ramp
expansion, an Amazon facility expansion
and a new $50 million International
Cargo Facility.
When Amazon first launched its
own cargo freight flights in 2016,
the airport was among the first in
the country to establish itself as an
Amazon Air gateway, This investment
along with investments made for UPS
as well as international cargo flights
contributed to RFD being named by
Airports Council International as the
fastest-growing cargo airport in the
world among those handling at least
250,000 metric tons of freight each year.
Business continued to grow by the
time the calendar changed to 2020.
16 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
november-december 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of november-december 2021
