CNN Story on Small Airport Funding of Airline Service: Does this make sense?
CNN has a story on small airport funding for airline service and what they are doing to keep service in their communities.
Chartering a 757 for a joy ride and filling it up with people to make sure the airport meets that magic 10,000 annual passengers required for FAA funding? Offering free flights to students to go to D.C. for the day to meet the same goal of 10,000 annual passengers?
And when you get that 10,000th passenger does it make sense to receive millions in funding for your airport when 9,999 passengers doesn’t get it? Something just doesn’t make sense about this.
I am an advocate of the value of small airports and the money spent at small airports to provide adequate runways, instrument approaches and basic facilities. The two airports we use as bases in Middle Tennessee are vibrant economic engines for the community. At the Smyrna / Rutherford County Airport there are hundreds of jobs at 30 different businesses. Additionally, we have a National Guard installation at the airport that employs many more aviators and support personnel. Comparing the airport featured in the video with our airport in Smyrna (which has no airline service) underlines the very basic differences. In Smyrna, Tennessee, it is up to the airport to support itself without spending thousands of dollars to meet an arbitrary passenger count that makes our annual budget.
I am a believer in the free market. FAA funding doled out to airports for the purpose of maintaining commercial air service when the market doesn’t value it enough to support it, seems to be a waste of taxpayer money and a driver of market inefficiency.
Every year our company gets requests from airport directors to provide scheduled air service at their airports. We are not in the scheduled airline business anymore; so, I have to respectfully decline. In fact, I’ve told everyone who works for me to beat me if I think about doing something stupid like that again. I understand that every community wants scheduled air service for economic development - the perception is that airline service means access. But, obviously, with an average of 18 passengers boarding each day out of Claksburg, the one does not necessarily follow the other.
So what is the answer for these small and medium market communities who are going to extremes to preserve or gain commercially nonviable scheduled air service?
Could it be that is is not all about whether you have traditional airline service in your community? Maybe these airports are chasing the wrong thing.
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to “CNN Story on Small Airport Funding of Airline Service: Does this make sense?”
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- Apr 21, 2010: uberVU - social comments
I think the major problem with airport funding is its bases in antiquated ideas. The usefulness of an airport is not solely based on the amount of people arriving and departing from the terminal.
One of the issues I had with the CNN story was the implication that without passengers these airports didnt deserve ANY government money. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that these airport managers are doing anything they can to get funds within the current system. What needs to be done is to take a more modern approach to airport funding.
Some airports have taken a more proactive approach to their funding through partnerships with local businesses and the growth of industrial parks around airports. This not only benefits the airport and increases it property value, it also enhances the tax base for the town and makes its future survival more viable. In addition airports should be more accomidative of industries that will increase the emplacements at the airport from the general aviation an business aviation industry. This includes active marketing of airport space for aircraft rental and hangars (a regular cash base and flow), flight schools, which I believe are BADLY needed now, aircraft repair and manufacturing and of course business aviation and air taxi service. Other local aviation industries such as aerial spraying and air ambulance service not only broaden the commercial business base but also provide a tangible and noticeable benefit to the community.
A successful and broad based airport economic plan not only makes it valuable to the community but assures its survival because it becomes less and less dependent on government funds.