Introduction to WMRA

The West Metro Regional Airport concept was initiated in December 2001 by the Dallas County Board of Supervisors and a group of private supporters within the western metropolitan areas of Polk County and the eastern areas of Dallas County. The purpose was to determine the feasibility and role of a publicly-owned airport facility to serve the region. Following this initial evaluation funded by the private supporters, Dallas County, along with eight cities in the eastern Dallas County area, came together to do an in-depth study using the expertise of outside consultants. This was completed in January, 2004 and it supported the earlier study’s findings that an airport in the west metro area was indeed a viable project, could be supported by users in that area of the county, and would be an excellent economic development tool to aid in business growth in the region.

Since that time the City of Adel assumed the position of lead agency and on June 13th, 2006 passed City Ordinance #228 which created the West Metro Regional Airport Authority.

Two important components to the airport project include an economic impact study completed by Harvey Siegelman, State Economist of Iowa, Retired and Adjunct Professor of Economics, Drake University and Daniel Otto, Professor of Economics, Iowa State University. This report is in Adobe PDF format and is available for download.

The second is the West Metro Regional Airport Master Plan which details the specifics of the site, operations and areas of the airport. This report is available for viewing and download.

The Airport Master Plan is currently undergoing revisions and will be posted here after the revisions are complete.

The Airport Study has been designed to provide an objective look at future airport needs, and to answer some basic questions about the community and the possible development of a general aviation airport in the Western Metropolitan region.

At the request of the FAA, some of the data and forecast modeling have been updated. The updated information may be viewed here.