Phil Boyer has served as president of AOPA since 1991.
Whether flying on business or for a personal weekend jaunt, it's hard for me to visit any airport or FBO without someone cornering me with a problem. Often these are small, but each must be heard and addressed. Not only is that our job at AOPA, but small issues, such as a seemingly innocent very-late-night curfew, can escalate into full-blown problems later.
Your AOPA headquarters has a qualified staff of airport people who know the regulations — what the FAA does and does not allow federally funded airports to do — and they have considerable experience from the hundreds of cases they have handled. In addition, the association's regional representative program has 13 dedicated aviation professionals providing airport and legislative support. Nearly 1,000 members have volunteered to become part of our growing AOPA Airport Support Network (ASN) program. In this case it's pilots representing pilots at the local level, with AOPA backup and guidance. We also know how to communicate these issues to our members and the general public. These AOPA resources are working a total of some 400 airport issues at any one time.
Take the ongoing battle to save Meigs Field in Chicago. In addition to your association's longtime involvement, several other national organizations support the cause and an outstanding local group, Friends of Meigs Field, has been very effective at keeping the plight of this airport before the public in Chicago. Bill Blake, AOPA's Great Lakes regional representative and former Illinois director of aviation, spends a majority of his time on behalf of this lakefront airport, with input from ASN volunteer George Bullwinkel. My personal time and energy continue to go into this endeavor — in late July, I personally presented the Meigs issue to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. AOPA Legislative Affairs has crafted, and the Senate has passed, legislation that could positively affect Meigs later in this legislative year. Rest assured that your association is putting forth every possible effort to save this valuable GA airport. I often hear, "If it can happen to Meigs, it can happen to my home airport." We know that Meigs is an icon to member pilots throughout the United States.
At the same time, this is happening at other airports that are also high on our priority list — some are under the threat of closure, others have highly restrictive operating proposals, and a few are faced with unique regulations affecting aircraft tiedowns and hangar space. Recently, your association management decided to create a new staff position, in addition to our existing airport resources, that will specifically target high-priority, at-risk airports with significant based aircraft or regulations setting national precedents. We picked a nearly 10-year AOPA employee whose career has been solidly linked with saving airports. He will draw on the support of all the traditional staff and volunteer resources, but his attention will be focused on only a handful of these problem airports.
Meigs obviously is on that list, but so are several other very important GA facilities. It was almost four years ago that Hawthorne, California's mayor floated the idea of closing Hawthorne Municipal Airport and redeveloping the property for "purposes that will generate tax dollars for the city." Despite fighting off many attempts since that time, due in no small part to the efforts of ASN volunteer Gary Parsons, the city entered into an 18-month "exclusive right to negotiate" agreement with a prominent California developer to formulate a plan for the "best and highest use" of the airport property. Principals of the company have been to Washington, D.C., to "negotiate" with the FAA. Hawthorne is a key Los Angeles Basin reliever airport and obligated not only by FAA grants but by surplus property conveyance under Section 16 — which means that if the city wishes to close the airport, that property must be returned to the federal government. Only Congress can grant the release.
Or, take Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, where Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's calls to close Meigs have lead other politicians to jump into the fray. Five of 12 candidates for Cleveland's mayor have stated that the airport should be closed and redeveloped for parks. While we have sent a letter to each candidate, this issue is only beginning for our airport SWAT team leader.
To our north in Alaska, the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has established Title 17, containing some pretty ridiculous rules for the 261 state-owned airports. One section states that you must have a medical certificate in order to have an aircraft hangar or tiedown on a state airport. If your medical expires, you only have 60 days to regain it; if revoked or suspended, make it 120 days. That doesn't make much sense, considering the backlog of medicals at the FAA. In addition, the code requires aircraft to be flown by the permit holder at least once every three months, with paperwork reporting requirements.
And at Van Nuys, California, the airport authority is proposing to reduce the number of single-engine tiedowns. To counter the business interest in more "heavy iron," a new organization was just formed: the Van Nuys Propeller Aircraft Association.
Oceanside, California, and others are on the small but very important list of our new airport advocate. This is just another step AOPA is taking to address the growing threat to our GA airports. We hope that your home airport won't end up on his list, but if it does — or it's already there — rest assured that your association will put forth whatever resources are necessary to win.
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