STOCKTON, Calif. — For the majority of the week, a group of San Joaquin County's elected and public leaders were in Washington, D.C., talking with federal officials about the future of the Stockton Metropolitan Airport.
"We're very, very excited coming back to San Joaquin County," the airport's director Richard Sokol said hours after landing back in California. "Very excited about what the future holds for this airport with the support we're now expecting from Washington. We think we're going to be able to open a lot of doors."
The 10 county supervisors, administrators and airport officials spent Tuesday through Thursday in meetings with federal agencies and lawmakers, including the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation and Customs and Border Patrol.
"We've got things going on at the airport where there's private parties interested and commerce going on. That triggers a lot of FAA attention," said County Supervisor and delegation member Tom Patti. "They were very impressed by the growth of San Joaquin County and the level of engagement."
In April, county supervisors approved nearly $26 million in improvements at the airport, including funding to build a new passenger terminal.
"We know the growth is coming, the interest is here," Patti said. "The (federal) agencies... they love to see that we've got skin in the game."
In light of recent talks, airport officials say they're altering those initial improvement plans in order to be able to accommodate larger commercial airplanes and more passengers.
"The reception in the aeronautical community has been excellent and we've had new opportunities come to us," Sokol said. "We are constantly involved in communications with different airlines. We are going to an event next month where we're going to meet with several of them again and follow up on our conversations."
Sokol wouldn't say which airlines those conversations are with, but he is optimistic that the Stockton Airport's future is ready for takeoff.
"We only capture 6% of the available market. When we find that right airline that wants to capture that (94%), we're going to help them do that right here," Sokol said.
Watch more from ABC10: Stockton Metropolitan Airport ranked least reliable in the nation
