City resumes management of Sikeston Municipal Airport

SIKESTON, Mo. — Sikeston’s Municipal Airport is under new management and is getting a face-lift. After years of private operation, the city of Sikeston has resumed the day-to-day management of the airport.

Area native Lee Dunn was hired as manager of the airport in September, when the city resumed management of the facility and grounds.

The Missouri Department of Transportation Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration conduct annual inspections on municipal airports. Sikeston’s runway and taxiway will require improvements to be in compliance with state and federal safety regulations.

“We are going to seal the cracks in the asphalt runway and taxiway and paint the numbers and markings,” Dunn said.

Airport renovations will begin in late summer or early fall and will take about one month.

Dunn said the estimated total cost of the improvements, including engineering, is $472,000. MoDOT and the FAA will pay 90 percent of the cost, and the Sikeston Municipal Airport fund will pay the remainder.

Compliance with regulations is not the only reason for Sikeston’s investment in the airport. Maintaining a safe and attractive municipal airport is important to the community, Dunn said.

The airport is the “doorway to our community” to a surprising array of people, he said. Several area companies regularly fly out of the Sikeston airport for business, keeping a plane in one of the airport hangars.

On May 6, 27 flights arrived at the Sikeston airport with one purpose — lunch at Lambert’s Cafe in Sikeston. Dunn said the flights in for lunch at Lambert’s mostly originate from Nashville, Tennessee, or St. Louis and are a regular source of commerce to the area.

The airport also is a doorway to the area for dignitaries and political figures who visit. Dunn recalled Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley came through the Sikeston Municipal Airport last week.

Dunn, a graduate of East Prairie High School, always had a passion for flying, getting a pilot’s license before graduating from high school. A life spent flying and a degree from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in aviation management have prepared Dunn for his job as airport manager, he said.

Dunn and his wife, Jennifer, a graduate of Kelly High School, have three children.

Assisting Dunn at the airport is Bill Paxton, a lineman for the city of Sikeston. Paxton works full time at the airport performing several tasks, from tending the grounds and hangars to fueling planes.

Pertinent address:

Sikeston Municipal Airport, Sikeston, Mo.