HARLINGEN — Valley International Airport has received a faultless score from the Federal Aviation Administration in its latest inspection of the airport’s facilities and safety practices and training.
“It really means a lot,” said Bryan Wren, assistant director of aviation at VIA. “It shows that our operations, our maintenance staff and our ARFF firefighters, they’re really dedicated at the airport and it shows how much pride that they take in their jobs in keeping the airfield well maintained and the ARFF guys keeping their training up.”
Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting, known in shorthand as ARFF, has been a key improvement for Valley International in recent years. A $3.8 million investment funded a new ARFF facility at the airport, where firefighters can sleep, eat and train while on duty.
The 10,000-square-foot facility also houses two new state-of-the-art specialized firefighting vehicles, a Striker Oshkosh 4×4 and Titan Force, known as Charlie 1 and Charlie 2.
“It helps them a lot better for the training and all the equipment and trucks, everything’s pretty much brand new,” Wren said. “And speaking of equipment, that also includes our maintenance equipment, a lot of it is brand new and well-maintained.”
“For example we’ve got a paint machine that paints a three-foot-wide stripe for the runways, and those guys use it, know how to use it, and do a darn good job,” he added. “That’s part of the inspection as well. It’s not just the airfield, but also the painting, markings and signage.”
The FAA inspection occurred over three days in May.
