A maintenance facility for Sky West and departure of William Daniel

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux has been dealing with the good, the bad and the ugly lately.

The Good

Arceneaux welcomed the news on May 6 that SkyWest had chosen Shreveport out of 30 locations across the country for its newest maintenance facility.

“They are a large operation,” Arceneaux said. “They operate 500 regional jets throughout the country. It’s a big deal. We are very excited about it.”

SkyWest will support its fleet of almost 500 regional airplanes at a hangar at Shreveport Regional Airport. SkyWest Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines and Delta Air Lines; passengers flying from Shreveport likely have flown on a SkyWest airplane, perhaps without realizing it.

“They are currently the regional subcontractor for three of our airlines,” the mayor said.

“You may be flying a SkyWest plane. You may be flying American Eagle, operated by SkyWest.”

The move is expected to create 150 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $70,000. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 375 indirect new jobs while bringing a potential 525 new jobs to the Northwest Region.

SkyWest officials were not on hand for the news conference. Arceneaux said an event would be planned at some point, but SkyWest was eager to get the ball rolling.

“Their more important goal is hiring people,” he said.

Arceneaux said the prospects for a talent pool in the Shreveport area were one of the big draws, in addition to the available hangar. Three schools within an hour of Shreveport offer the technical training needed.

“SUSLA has one, there is one in Longview and one in Texarkana,” Arceneaux said. “I am sure that was a drawing card. And we had the hangar available. That just all worked out beautifully.”
SkyWest will upgrade the hangar. Arceneaux said that Caddo Parish is contributing $250,000 to support that effort, the Industrial Development Board is contributing $250,000, and SWEPCO is contributing up to $200,000 in upgrades to the hangar.

It will be SkyWest’s 13th maintenance base, and the airline expects it to be operational in the second half of 2025.

The Bad

Arceneaux announced that Shreveport’s Director of Water and Sewage, William Daniel, resigned effective May 6.

That same day, it was reported that Shreveport’s water system received an ‘F’ grade for the second consecutive year.

Arceneaux said the timing of those two items was simply a bad coincidence and that they were not related.

“Those had no relationship to each other,” he said. “William did a terrific job. He handled things like the ‘F’ grade very professionally. He is exceptionally well educated and experienced.”

The mayor said Daniel’s departure had nothing to do with the job.

“He had a family situation that required him to be close to a family member, and he really wasn’t able to continue doing it in Shreveport,” Arceneaux said. “We are very sorry to see him go.”

The mayor said the city has benefited from Daniel’s experience even after his resignation. Daniel testified last week at the Louisiana Legislature regarding State Sen. Sam Jenkins’s bill that would put liens on properties where landlords were collecting money for utilities and then not paying those utilities. And that’s not all.

“He will continue, probably gratis, to assist us in dealing with the sewers’ consent decree. That’s something he really wanted to see through. To have somebody of his stature and intelligence and experience is great.”

In addition to stating that Daniel’s departure had nothing to do with the “F” grade for the water system, Arceneaux’s grade was not a reflection of the water quality, either.

“That had to do mostly with infrastructure,” he said. “There is a component for complaints. We had a large number because of the manganese issue, which we resolved. And which we had no hand in creating. Because of people like William Daniel and (interim director) Brandon Snead, we’re about to figure that out.”

Arceneaux said many of the issues addressed in the report are being worked on. While he anticipates more potentially bad reports on the water system as the work continues, he stands by the quality of Shreveport water.

“We’re very concerned about water quality,” he said. “This grade is not about quality.

It doesn’t mean our water is unsafe. I regularly drink Shreveport tap water and order it at restaurants because I want to see what it tastes and smells like. I have noticed the improvement.”

The Ugly

Arceneaux also addressed a video by British TikTok influencers JoshandJase that caused quite an ugly buzz about Shreveport.

“They didn’t see much of Shreveport,” Arceneaux said. “I watched it, and it had to do with a hotel. And they booked apparently a cruddy hotel and said the whole city must be like that. And, of course, that’s never the case. Obviously, I wish they hadn’t done it. I thought it interesting and coincidental that they were treated like royalty at a south Louisiana location, so I speculated whether those two events were related. I have no way to know, I just found it very coincidental.”