The city’s legal committee will consider whether the Roswell Air Center should add four more airport operations specialist positions at its 2 p.m. meeting on Thursday at City Hall, 425 N. Richardson Ave., upstairs in the Mike Mathews Conference Room.
“Adequate staffing is essential to support airfield inspections, operational safety, maintenance activities, and continued compliance with applicable FAA requirements,” the staff report stated. “We are seeking guidance from the committee regarding available options and the appropriate steps to address the funding shortfall.”
This type of expense isn’t part of the airport’s existing budget, which covers the fiscal year beginning on July 1.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sent a correspondence to then-City Manager Hess Yntema on Sept. 15, explaining the agency’s concerns about the staffing levels at Roswell Air Center. The written correspondence followed a “formal in-person meeting” between Denson Stasher, the FAA’s Southwest Region safety and standards branch manager, and management-level air center staff in mid-August.
Between September 2020 and December 2025, the airport had 51 non-compliance items under Part 139, which establishes safety and operational standards for U.S. airports serving scheduled and unscheduled passenger air carrier operations.
The document also mentioned that this past January, Stasher and other FAA employees worked with airport staff to create a “Comprehensive Corrective Action Plan” meant to assist in bringing the facility into “full continuous compliance before formal legal enforcement (e.g., civil penalties or certificate actions) becomes necessary.”
Stasher also said this particular area of staffing at the airport is among “critical vulnerabilities.”
