Some of the most successful wins in general aviation airport advocacy have started at the local level—pilots and the community in Biddeford, Maine, rallied to keep Biddeford Airport open last year, and St. Petersburg residents united to save Albert Whitted Airport in 2003. These two triumphs wouldn’t have been possible without an involved, educated pilot community.
That’s why AOPA is taking its airport advocacy efforts on the road to areas where airports aren’t yet threatened in hopes of keeping it that way.
AOPA Vice President of Local Airport Advocacy Bill Dunn met with more than 170 officials including airport managers and owners, airport commissioners, members of the Iowa Department of Transportation, and AOPA Airport Support Network (ASN) volunteers in Carroll and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, last week to discuss FAA grant assurances, grant compliance, minimum standards for commercial aeronautical activity on airports, and the Iowa Aviation System Plan Update.
“We discussed grant assurances in detail, because those assurances are often what keep an airport open when mounting opposition seeks to close an airport,” Dunn said of his meetings.
During his meeting with ASN volunteers, Dunn discusses airport issues in their area and shared AOPA’s resources to help promote, protect, and defend GA airports.
“The ASN volunteers provide valuable information to AOPA on their local airports,” Dunn said. “It's always good to meet with local volunteers and hear firsthand what is happening. That makes it easier for us to work together to save airports.”
