Aviation's lifeblood

I think of Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF) in Tampa, where Atlas Aviation’s Deric Dymerski’s staff in cherry-red shirts greet incoming aircraft with red carpet treatment (yes, they lay out a red carpet), and the fresh-baked cookies at KRS Jet Center at East Texas Regional Airport (GGG). So many great GA airports welcome us with hot dogs and snacks, treats for the dog, and, of course, there is the often quirky but always appreciated courtesy car. These places of welcome at the end of a pleasure flight or a tough business day are the cherry on top of an avocation that we pilots appreciate and, I believe, should come to expect. We all appreciate the little luxuries of pilot quiet rooms, overstuffed couches, those cookies, and toiletries in the bathrooms.

However, recently I’ve been hearing from you that many airports aren’t as welcoming as they should be. I’m hearing of egregious fees for necessities at airports such as fuel, parking, even the use of toilets! Some FBOs, often those with a monopoly on the field, have been charging pilots for services they did not request or need and implementing egregious fees for events and holidays. The idea that our own GA airports—those welcome places at the end of our flight—are making pilots uncomfortable is beyond frustrating to me.

Reports of ADS-B data being used to charge some of these egregious fees concerns me. As I said in my column last month (“Original Intent,” May 2025 AOPA Pilot), ADS-B data was only to be used to make flying safer and improve airspace efficiencies. If, as we have begun to see, that data is part of some airports’ plans to collect additional fees, it’s wrong. Safety is AOPA’s top priority, and ADS-B is an essential tool for improving safety. ADS-B data should not be used to charge landing fees, nor should it invade a pilot’s privacy or contribute to a frivolous lawsuit. That’s contrary to the ADS-B safety objective. So, what is going on here? Why are some airports taking down their welcome signs and acting discourteous? Let’s get to the bottom of this. AOPA understands the need for privately owned airports to help with their bottom line, but federally funded airports and their FBOs should not be gouging GA pilots with egregious fees for simple basics like parking, security, and facilities. Rather than all these fees, airports should be looking to improve their economics by investing in revenue-producing assets, such as new hangars, promoting flight schools and maintenance facilities, or incentivizing aviation businesses to open up shop on the airport, as Tennessee did when it enticed Cirrus to open its Vision Center in Knoxville. Healthy airports contribute to healthy communities.

Airports are like our national park system, or on/off ramps on the highway. They’re a core part of our national infrastructure and are public assets intended to be used by all. This isn’t about “no fees” since even national parks have some sort of fee; it’s about “fair and reasonable” fees. What if a national park doubled or tripled their park entrance fees and then started adding in “security fees,” “convenience fees,” or for a special event (Old Faithful erupting), they charged an extra “event fee” purely because they could, and users had no other option but to pay it? What if every highway off ramp could be commandeered by a local authority to charge whatever fee they wanted to use it, and what if a Porsche exiting the highway had to pay more than a Ford simply because the Porsche driver is likely wealthier? This is what’s increasingly happening at airports, and if we don’t all team up to manage it better, we will likely see a steady and persistent decline in GA activity across the country.

While we’ve had successes in combating these fees in Florida and Colorado and several other states, we can and must do better. We’re making a concerted effort to highlight these fees in our AOPA Airport Directory so you can “know before you go,” and we’ll start to highlight the airports that are the most egregious in their fee structures so you can make informed decisions. Ultimately, our goal is to get airports and FBOs to take a fair and reasonable approach to their fee structures so we all benefit from a thriving and vibrant general aviation ecosystem. You can count on AOPA to lead the charge.

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