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Imagine working at a job where you can fly a private airplane -- owned by the company and at their expense -- to a job site and check on construction of one of your civil design projects or size up parameters for another one. A four-hour drive now becomes a one-hour hour flight, and when you land, you don't have to worry about renting a car and fighting traffic and finding your way in a strange city.

You can do this if you work at Delta Airport Consultants, an engineering firm that specializes in airport consulting -- after all, the work is conveniently right at the airport. With over 70 employees, Delta has its headquarters in Richmond, Virginia and other offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Austin, Texas. The staff includes 20 registered professional engineers as well as airport planners and environmental specialists. They specialize in civil and electrical engineering, construction administration, planning, and environmental assessments for airports. Clients range from general aviation air fields that accommodate private aircraft to large commercial airports, though most work deals with small to mid-size facilities.

A pilot and aviation nut as well as a civil engineer, Ed Beale originally started Delta Airport Consultants in 1978. After getting his engineering degree from Virginia Tech, he worked for the FAA for ten years and saw a need for an airport consulting firm. Charlie Lamb came into the fold the following year. Lamb has a civil engineering degree from North Carolina State and a master's from Virginia Tech, and he had worked for the Virginia Department of Aviation for three years. His love of aviation began as a boy scout, when an assistant scoutmaster with a pilot's license took him flying. He now serves as president of the firm. These two entrepreneurs managed to find a career that blends their love of aviation and engineering.

When they first started, Delta worked almost exclusively in the mid-Atlantic region, with the bulk of their jobs in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. They now have clients in Texas and Idaho and have done work in Nebraska. Delta designs taxiways, runways, aprons, service and entrance roads, parking lots, utilities, lighting, security systems, and navigational aids. Projects have ranged from $5,000 feasibility studies to new terminal development in excess of $27 million.

Since new airports aren't built every year, most of Delta's work comes from modifications, rehabilitation, and expansion of existing facilities, with ever-changing FAA regulations driving much of it. Delta has worked with a number of airports for many years, some since the firm first opened its doors.

As anyone who doesn't live in a cave could guess, the airport industry has become increasingly complex over the years, for various reasons. "September 11, 2001 threw the airport industry for a loop, much like it did the entire aviation industry. Previously, the big thrust airportwise had been capacity, making sure our system was up to the increased passengers and aircraft activity. Basically, all those resources got shifted to increasing security," explains Courtney Beamon, a civil engineer at Delta as well as the firm's marketing director.

Big airports immediately started looking at where to put security devices and how to secure perimeters with access controls. As an example of the work this generated, airports had to comply with a new rule that said vehicles couldn't park within 400 feet of a terminal, so Delta has done studies on how to comply with it. But Beamon stresses, "We're infrastructure people. We're not security experts. People pull us in because we know their facilities." They can work with security experts because they know the layout, how things work, and the airport's future expansion plans.

Along with added security, the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks brought another change to airports: smaller ones saw an increase in the number of people who use private or corporate planes instead of commercial airlines to travel. "We're seeing a need to upgrade facilities to serve the smaller communities. The bigger the aircraft that want to come into an airport, the longer the runway and the beefier the pavement needs to be," Beamon says.

Over the years, and well before 9/11/01, environmental aspects have taken on increasing importance in the airport industry, and airport developers must now anticipate the effects of airport construction and expansion on surrounding areas. Delta's work in this area involves coordinating with state and federal agencies on environmental assessments and permitting. Beamon states, "We deal with water quality issues, wetland issues, endangered species, and forestation. Municipalities and states have gotten a lot more sophisticated in what they allow, and they're constantly changing those regulations."

With the ever-changing scenario in the airport industry, Beamon reports, "The firm has grown considerably over the past five to ten years." She adds that at one point, Delta reached a size where it needed to pay more attention to corporate functions. "We were a bunch of engineers that wore a lot of of different hats." They didn't have people dedicated to human resources or accounting, for instance. In response, "One of the engineers became our IT-type person. I became our marketing-type person."

Beamon's role typifies the opportunities Delta presents for engineers. Armed with B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering, she came to Delta straight out school not knowing whether she preferred the planning side, where you see the big picture, or the engineering side, where you handle the intimate details. "I have the opportunity here to do a little of both," she reveals. "We stay with projects from the beginning. Those first few years out of college, before you get your P.E., it allows you to see all kinds of things -- the funding, planning, environmental aspects, nitty-gritty design, and then ultimately the construction." After doing that for awhile, she moved into a project manager role. "We have clients we're responsible for. Whatever comes up at your airports, you're responsible for. It's great in terms of professional development because it allows us to experience all different types of projects."

Delta's best year came in 2001, when they hired 15 new people. But Beamon reports, "After September 11, everything leveled off for a year. We didn't lay anyone off, and we've started back hiring this year, but it's not at the rates we saw previously."

When Delta does look to hire new engineers, "We do a fair amount of college recruiting," says Beamon. That serves a secondary purpose beyond finding good people. "Some engineers get out of school and don't even realize this is an industry. They think they'll get pigeonholed at an airport consultant. It's a real education process for us to explain that we're actually the exact opposite of that." Delta engineers design common entities such as roads and parking lots extensively. "We're all generalists in a lot of ways. We need be able to perform pavement design, drainage design, grading design, and then complete the aviation-specific things on top of that."

As Beamon expounds, "We thoroughly enjoy the entry level engineers, but there's also a need for the person with their P.E. and some airport experience that can help with project management tasks. Those people are a heck of a lot harder to find." She adds, "We're always looking for the right person, one with the enthusiasm for what we do and a broad skill set."

Although by no means necessary, Beamon could mention that it doesn't hurt to have a pilot's license. Delta has 12 licensed pilots on staff and four corporate aircraft at their disposal. "It's very convenient. It helps our reach," she explains. "More importantly, it give us a user's perspective of the facility. Having a knowledge of flight patterns and operating procedures for pilots is a great benefit in understanding the real workings of our airports." Perhaps most telling, Beamon adds, "We enjoy getting to know our facilities."

Company: Delta Airport Consultants, Inc.

Type: Consulting engineering firm specializing in airports

Location: Headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. Other offices in Charlotte, North Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Austin, Texas

Human Resource Contact: Ed Parks, 804-275-8301

Website: www.deltaairport.com

Progressive Engineer
Editor: Tom Gibson
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©2004 Progressive Engineer