Airport Support Through Education, Not Greater User Fees

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article is an editorial by the author, and may not reflect the opinion of other WATA members, corporate sponsors, MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINE or its advertisers. Nothing can be reprinted without the written consent of the author, WATA and MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINE. Any use of the information presented is done so without permission and at the user's risk.

Absolutely the worst situation fixed base operators and aircraft owners can find themselves in is in conflict with their local airport manager over
increasing fees, leases and rent due to rising, and oftentimes unnecessary
airport costs. Instead, the airport manager should be working with their
tenants to inform and educate local government as to the need to subsidize airports with tax dollars from the general fund.

In Wisconsin, members of the Wisconsin Aviation Trades Association
(WATA) and Wisconsin Airport Management Association (WAMA) participate in an annual state conference, along with representatives of the Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics and Federal Aviation Administration, and local airport commission members. We spend a lot of time discussing current issues and we generally agree on what is in the best interest of our airports - be it to resurface a runway, acquire land to protect approaches, or to address federal issues and requirements. Probably the greatest area of disagreement is over lease agreements and the fees local municipalities charge operators/tenants to pay for expenditures which as fixed base operators, we feel we do not need and have not requested, or items which we feel should be paid through the general fund for the common good of the community.

We hear all too often as operators that we should simply pass these
costs on to our customers, without first determining the need for such
expenditures, and with no consideration to the budget constraints of local
flyers. For the most part we are talking about individuals who use the
airport like a road or a highway to fly small, single-engine or light twin
aircraft for business, pleasure or for educational purposes, and not about
large corporate flight department operating big equipment with unlimited
operating budgets.

But try to get this across to local government officials who either look to their local airport primarily as a means to go from point A to point B via the airlines, or as a tax subsidized hobby for the rich, rather than as a viable "mode of transportation" deserving of equal treatment to roads and highways.

It is therefore the goal of many local officials to try and make the airport "pay for itself" without any consideration as to the full utility of that facility and its impact on the local economy. Add to this the growing bureaucracies of some airport management staffs, and their plans to build new, over-done facilities for themselves so they can justify their positions or the next larger airport job, and user costs tend to rise!

Fixed base operators and pilot/aircraft groups need to do a better job of communicating their concerns and needs to airport management and elected officials, and educating local officials on the importance of the airport to the community as a whole. Likewise, if airport management and local government have concerns or feel certain expenditures are justified, they need to communicate them to tenants and not make arbitrary decisions which only waste money, create hard feelings and do not give a real value back to the airport, and the community.

I think all too often the local airport manager is either pressured
by his boss (the mayor or county board) to make the airport self-sufficient, and he doesn't work with tenants in the educational process just described. In addition, while new facilities are nice, they may not be necessary and users may not be willing to pay for them. When that is the case, if local government decides to go ahead with a project, it should be willing to support such projects with general tax dollars and not fees generated by aviation user groups. Afterall, the general public and local business directly benefit from having a safe and efficient airport.

Using local public capital improvement monies at the local airport
has become more challenging today than ever before. The pie is only so big and there are many people looking for a chuck of that pie for their interests. We, the users, need to be sure the money is very well spent and a real value to us and the community. The needs and desires of users, airport management and local government need to be discussed at state aviation conferences, local meetings, and openly with general public input. Likewise, our ability to pay for these expenditures have to be considered. That is the only way local communities can become educated and arrive at some sort of consensus on what is in the best interest - and financial means - of all concerned.

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