Kansas Association of Airports News
03/22/2012 12:00:00
The application deadline for the 2012 KAA Scholarship is April 10, 2012. Visit the "Scholarships" page for more information.
01/31/2012 12:00:00
News from the GA Airport Coalition
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A little over one hour ago, conference committee members for the FAA Reauthorization bill met to hammer out the final negotiations on a long-term bill. Earlier today, the House named its conferees (the Senate did so last April). It is being reported that the committee has agreed to a four-year bill (the remainder of FY 2012, and FY 2013, FY 2014 and FY 2015).
It is our understanding that funding for FAA's programs is $15.9 billion per year. Of that $15.9 billion, $3.35 billion per year will be contract authority for the Airport Improvement Program and the remainder is subject to later action by the Appropriations Committees.
Earlier today, GAAC sent another letter to members of the GA Congressional Caucus highlighting our priorities for the bill. Specifically, GAAC supports a four-year reauthorization bill that provides at least $8.1 billion for AIP and maintains the 95/5 cost share as proposed by the Senate in S. 223. GAAC also supports Section 137 of the House-passed bill to provide protections to GA Airports who have previously entered into a Through-The-Fence TTF agreement. Finally, GAAC supports efforts to ensure that general aviation interests are considered and representatives are involved in the development of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).
The text of the conference agreement will likely be made available tomorrow, but we are certainly excited to report that a four-year bill will be a reality before the 23rd extension expires next month.
Stay tuned….
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01/17/2012 12:00:00
No Permanent FAA Funding Makes Planning Tough for Airports
By George Ford, Reporter
The Eastern Iowa Airport, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (GAZETTE ARCHIVES)
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Lack of permanent funding for the Federal Aviation Administration keeps regional airport directors guessing when trying to plan major capital improvement projects.
The FAA, which partially shut down briefly last summer when temporary funding expired, is poised for a repeat on Jan. 31 if the U.S. House and Senate cannot agree on a permanent reauthorization bill or temporary extension. The agency provides the majority of the money for airport runway and safety improvement projects.
The FAA has not been permanently funded by Congress since the last reauthorization bill expired in 2007. It has operated under consecutive continuing resolutions — including No. 22 in September — as Congress has wrestled with issues like subsidized airline service for small communities and a change in the way labor unions are able to organize airline employees.
Tim Bradshaw, director of The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, said lack of a permanent FAA reauthorization bill can increase the cost of capital improvement projects, which are funded by federal airport improvement program grants and local revenue from a passenger facility charge.
“When we go out for bids and get these projects lined up, we try to get the bidders to hold their prices for a specific period of time,” Bradshaw said. “Sometimes we can’t get them to hold their prices, so we have to go out again for bids. That’s one of the risks you run when you’re not sure when the money will be available.”
Bradshaw said $3.5 million of FAA airport improvement program funds have been appropriated by the FAA for projects at The Eastern Iowa Airport in the current fiscal year, but the funding has not been authorized by Congress.
“We will go out for bids and do lots of planning because these projects involve coordination so they do not interfere with operations,” Bradshaw said. “In the end, if Congress does not authorize the spending, it’s all for nothing,”
The Eastern Iowa Airport has several major capital improvement projects planned over the next several years that would qualify for funding from the airport improvement program, including reconstruction of the airport’s secondary runway in two phases ($7.6 million in fiscal 2013), construction of a new taxiway ($10.3 million in fiscal 2014) and renovation of the passenger terminal’s security checkpoint ($3.8 million in fiscal 2015).
Bradshaw said the latter project is needed to expand the checkpoint for more efficient passenger flow and to accommodate new screening technology used by the Transportation Security Administration.
“We’re getting the whole body imaging unit here in the next couple of months, which will require space that we don’t have,” Bradshaw said. “We’re wringing our hands and scratching our heads as to how we’re going to fit that machine in the small amount of space we have in the checkpoint.”
Bradshaw said the city-owned airport, which does not receive local property tax revenue, was fortunate to secure FAA letters of intent to complete a $46.8 million reconstruction of its 8,600-foot main runway and intersection with the secondary runway in 2010. The project provided a significant number of construction jobs with area subcontractors.
Bruce Carter, director of the Quad City International Airport in Moline, Ill., said a similar FAA entitlement funding guarantee enabled the airport to complete a $34 million reconstruction of its main 10,000-foot runway in September. A $1.6 million project in the late spring will convert a temporary runway into a new taxiway.
While saying Quad City International has no airport improvement program-eligible projects of similar size planned for the near future, Carter called the inability of Congress to craft and pass a permanent FAA reauthorization bill “very disappointing.”
“We just work out what we think is going to happen with the FAA and the state, but we need a long-term funding bill,” Carter said. “We need a permanent reauthorization bill so we can plan for three to five years with some certainty of funding.”
While Bradshaw and Carter are hopeful that Congress can resolve issues holding up a reauthorization bill, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.VA., chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, says passage of a bill is unlikely before Jan. 31 and the issue could get pushed beyond the November election into 2013.
“This industry, if we are real about it, has very few friends on the Hill and they don’t understand how much the economy is tied to aviation.” Rockefeller said in a mid-November speech to the Aero Club of Washington.
01/17/2012 12:00:00
The fight continues... Round 2? Or is it 3? 4? Just as dangerous this time around....
OFFICIAL OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET RESPONSE TO Take Aviation User Fees off the table
Why We Need Aviation User Fees
By Dana Hyde
Thank you for signing the petition "Take Aviation User Fees Off the Table." We appreciate your participation in the We the People platform on WhiteHouse.gov and your concerns about user fees in a challenging economy.
In a challenging budget environment, the Obama Administration believes it’s essential that those who benefit from our world-class aviation system help pay for its ongoing operation. And we want to ensure that everyone is paying their fair share. Forexample, under current law, a large commercial aircraft flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco pays between twenty-one and thirty-three times the fuel taxes paid by a corporate jet flying the same route and using the same FAA air traffic services. This is why the Administration proposed to establish a new surcharge for air traffic services.
The proposed $100 per flight fee would generate an estimated $11 billion over 10 years, reducing the deficit and more equitably sharing the cost of air traffic services across the aviation user community. All piston aircraft, military aircraft, public aircraft, air ambulances, aircraft operating outside of controlled airspace, and Canada-to-Canada flights would be exempted.
We appreciate your petition's acknowledgment that there needs to be an increased user contribution to aviation system funding in the current fiscal climate, and we recognize that some would prefer to raise the tax rate on aviation fuel. At the same time, we have concluded that a $100 per flight user fee is an equitable way for those who benefit to bear the cost of this essential service.
As we work to get our Nation back on a sustainable fiscal path, the Administration is making tough choices across the Federal budget and asking everyone to do their fair share. We recognize these shared sacrifices are not easy, but together with investments in our economic growth and job creation, they will make us stronger and more competitive for the future. We look forward to working collaboratively with the Congress and the aviation stakeholder community on this issue, and thank you again for your constructive input.
Dana Hyde is Associate Director for General Government Programs, Office of Management and Budget
LINK TO PETITION TO TAKE USER FEES OFF OF THE TABLE...
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/take-aviation-user-fees-table/Mtjk9lM3?utm_source=wethepeople&utm_medium=response&utm_campaign=aviationfees
12/12/2011 12:00:00
While there is nothing new about pilots complaining, I found this article interesting....
Grand Junction pilots complain that airport fences disrupt commerce
POSTED: 12/08/2011 12:57:05 PM MST
UPDATED: 12/08/2011 01:26:30 PM MST
By Nancy Lofholm
Denver Post Staff Writer
GRAND JUNCTION — — Fences and gates at the Grand Junction Regional Airport are cutting off economic development and pushing pilots to take their business elsewhere, according to pilots who packed city council chambers Wednesday night to vent mounting anger about the Western Slope's largest airport.
Representatives of general aviation from around Colorado said they are landing their planes elsewhere because of "prisonlike fences" cutting aviation businesses off from normal commerce. A national pilots' association has called the fencing "the most Draconian" example of security measures in the country.
The 100 or so pilots at the meeting didn't stop with complaints about the 10-foot high electrified fences and imposing metal gates that can only be opened with biometric badges.
They asked the Grand Junction City Council to get rid of the airport manager, restructure the airport authority board, do a meaningful audit of airport finances and to stop signing off on airport grant requests that they allege amount to wasteful spending of taxpayer money.
"There is something really bad going on at the airport," said Charlie Huff, a pilot from Crawford, who said he doesn't fly to Grand Junction much anymore because of the fence hassle.
Airport manager Rex Tippetts wasn't at the meeting Wednesday, but he responded to the criticisms today, saying that what is going on at the airport is what is required by the Transportation Safety Administration.
The TSA doesn't require fences, but does require access control.
"Plain logic tells you you should know who is coming and going from the airport," Tippetts said.
The fence that has created the furor was built this summer with around $3.5 million in federal grants. It was built as a wildlife deterrant but was extended across two roads leading to general aviation businesses. Gates on the roads can only be accessed with $125 biometric badges or with airport "escorts." At other airports with the same combination of general and commercial aviation that triggers the TSA security regulations, badges are often required at individual general aviation businesses rather than on fences. Tippetts said that option at Grand Junction would have been very costly for individual businesses so the airport authority opted for the fence.
About two-thirds of the 9.3-mile perimeter of the Grand Junction air operations center is now ringed by the high fence. The remainder has four-strand barbed wire, leading pilots to complain that they have been fenced in while anyone can breach airport security through the wire fence. The fence also doesn't take in an air tour business or the airport's fixed-base operation business. Those businesses are installing their own access-control systems.
"This gives a perception of security. It doesn't have anything to do with actual security," said aeronautical engineer Steve Wood, who has hangars and airplanes at the airport that he uses for his business.
Businesses fenced in at the airport include flight schools, a refueling station, headquarters for the Civil Air Patrol and a WWII aviation museum. Many local off-airport businesses like Wood's have hangars and planes there.
An aviation mechanic business has left the airport because of the problems. Another business that provides service for airplane electronics is expected to leave soon, as is a self-service refueling station.
The pilots' complaints include the fact that the Civil Air Patrol can't hold cadet meetings and flight safety classes. Amateur radio operators have been closed out of their meeting rooms. Pilots can't stop to refuel and make trips to town to eat or shop without complications. Hangars have lost value because of people moving out.
The city council has already taken some action. Grand Junction city attorney John Shaver said the city has notified the airport authority board that it will not co-sign any more grant requests until the problems are ironed out. Mayor Tom Kenyon said the council will meet with the airport authority board to talk about the issues raised at the meeting Wednesday.
Those included revelations that airport manager Rex Tippett's expenses have included visits to Walt Disney World , a Cleveland Indians baseball game and a kayak outing. The expenses were marked "employee recognition" by Tippetts.
Tippetts said they were to reward employees, including himself, who had worked overtime on projects.
One defender of Tippetts spoke up at the meeting.
Craig Springer, a former airport authority board member, pointed out that Tippetts has increased the commercial flights available at the airport since he was hired in 2005 and has brought in $75 million in funding.
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957 ornlofholm@denverpost.com
Read more:Grand Junction pilots complain that airport fences disrupt commerce - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_19498246#ixzz1gLC9nwTz
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
11/28/2011 12:00:00
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Politics in Washington, normally baffling, is even more so now that the Super Committee has failed to reach an agreement on funding with a highly contested election approaching and the nation facing a massive $15 trillion debt.
When the Super Committee was formed, Congress included in the bill a provision that if the committee failed to reach an agreement by Nov. 21, an automatic $1.2 trillion in spending cuts would start in 2013. About half of these cuts would come from defense and entitlements.
But when you talk in the trillions, that still leaves substantial cuts to come from other government activities, including aviation. Will Congress move to change those automatic cuts or will those mandated reductions take effect? Expectations here are that Congress will change the mandated cuts. In fact, Congress started to undo its own automatic cuts plan even before the failure of the Super Committee was announced.
Whichever way lawmakers go, aviation funding will be one of many issues of contention. FAA reauthorization still must be ironed out before the 22nd short-term authorization runs out in January. NextGen needs definite funding. Airport development will be under scrutiny. Air traffic controller numbers may have to be reduced.
Congressman John Mica (R-Fla.) says savings could be made now in one matter affecting aviation. He recently released a report on the Transportation Security Administration, compiled by the staff of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The report was issued on the 10th anniversary of creating TSA after terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the thwarted attack by the aircraft forced to crash in Pennsylvania.
Mica said the report shows TSA “has strayed from its security mission and mushroomed into a top bureaucracy that includes 3,986 headquarters staff, making $103,852 per year on average, and 9,656 administrators in the field. TSA has 65,000 employees.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Cal.), who chairs the Oversight and Government Committee, said the TSA was envisioned and sold to the American people as a protective agency that would strategically employ the latest technology and cutting-edge tactics to protect travelers. “Despite these high ambitions,” he added, “the agency has become a backwards-looking dinosaur that seeks employees through pizza box advertising and struggles to detect actual terrorist threats.” Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) said, “Americans have spent nearly $60 billion funding TSA, and they are no safer today than they were before 9/11.”
TSA is one of 21 agencies in the Department of Homeland Security and turnovers in the top post of TSA administrator have been excessive.
Mica said he wants a leaner TSA. “While we are safer today than we were 10 years ago, this is largely due to the vigilance of American citizens and passengers,” he noted.
General aviation groups have been active in developing and implementing programs to maintain security at GA airports, such as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Airport Watch program.
Charles Spence is General Aviation News’ Washington, D.C., correspondent.
10/04/2011 12:00:00
(NECN: Peter Howe, Marlborough, Mass.) You'd think for a small airport owner, there'd be no more exciting honor than to have Marine One land with the president of the United States.
But for Bob Stetson, it's been a 16-months-and-counting disaster.
It was April 1, 2010, when President Obama landed at the single-runway airport Stetson owns here, taking a break during a fundraising trip to Boston to check in on Massachusetts emergency management officials at their Framingham bunker as they worked to respond to devastating floods. Stetson got a last-minute call from the U.S. Navy asking if he could accommodate six helicopters for a "VIP visit" -- which turned out to be President Obama with a full motorcade full of armored limousines and emergency vehicles.
"As I saw the vehicles come through the gate, drive out onto the runway, I said, 'Oh boy, this isn't going to be good,''' Stetson recalled in an interview Wednesday.
At that time of year, the airport was waterlogged, with a mushy, muddy base of soil, and Stetson himself would never drive cars or trucks onto the runway in early spring because of the damage it could do to a runway built to accommodate 2,000-pound planes.
"The heavy vehicles went out there, they crushed the runway structure for about one half the length of the runway, and I need to get it fixed,'' Stetson said, adding that engineers have estimated it will cost $675,000 to repair the potholes, dips, and ruts left by the Secret Service motorcade.
Marlboro Airport (spelled differently from the town's formal name) remains safe to use, under normal conditions, for the roughly 1,000 takeoffs and landings it sees each month, but it's not safe enough to meet Federal Aviation Administration inspectors' standards.
"A pilot that's flying responsibly and keeps his airplane in the middle of the runway as he should is not going to have a problem,'' Stetson said. "On the other hand, if there were a situation -- crosswinds or temporary loss of control or something like that -- and the airplane got caught up in that depression, it could throw it out of control.''
Marlboro Airport opened in 1922 and got its first paved runway in 1962 -- and while cracks have been sealed and repairs made, what's there today is the same 49-year-old pavement that was first laid at the airport. So the last thing Stetson needed or could handle were the dozen-plus vehicles, including a 44-ton truck, that commandeered the runway.
After Obama left and the damage his trip left behind was apparent, Stetson appealed, in vain, to state and federal management officials for financial help to repair the pavement and turf damage. He then turned to the Navy, who promptly explained to him that the Secret Service had controlled the motorcade that drove over the runway.
(Stetson agrees that the Marine Corps choppers left no damage behind, just the ground vehicles.)
After months of runaround, "the Secret Service denied my claim and suggested that if I was unhappy with that decision that I should file a lawsuit in federal court,'' Stetson said.
And that's what he finally did, on Tuesday in U.S. court in Worcester, seeking $676,000 from the government to repair the damage.
Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Edwin M. Donovan said by e-mail from Washington that the agency is not commenting or responding to Stetson "because it's pending litigation.''
Stetson mainly is disgusted it's come to this, that he has to go to court to get visitors who damaged the airport to take responsibility and pay for fixing it. "No, I don't like doing it,'' Stetson said. "I would have far preferred to have sat down with folks and worked it out informally, gentleman to gentleman. I was denied that opportunity.''
And while he keeps a handsome framed photo of Marine One signed by the crew that piloted it to Marlboro Airport back on April Fools Day of 2010, one more thing that eats at Stetson: No one from the White House ever called or wrote to say, thank you for letting us use your airport.
With videographer David Jacobs
08/12/2011 12:00:00
On September 2, 1911, Longren was the first Kansan to fly a Kansas-built aircraft in KS. Well, the Governor just signed a proclamation that acknowledges that achievement and declared September 2011 as the Centennial of Kansas Aviation.
This Saturday, at Topeka’s Phillip Billard Airport (TOP), I’m going to present the proclamation to the Aviation Explorer’s Post 8 Squadron at approximately 9:45 AM. Of course, everyone is invited to attend. The event is free and open to the public. Check out the attached for more information.
This will be a simple event with cake and punch but most importantly we’ll be talking directly to the future of our industry. The message that we will convey is that this was a great historical achievement, but the kids that are learning to fly out of this program are continuing the legacy of KS Aviation.
For those that aren’t familiar, the Post 8 has been around since 1952 teaching kids how to fly for pennies on the dollar. It really is a great collection and collaboration of the aviation community that support this program. They have a great hangar that they recently dedicated, flight instructors that donate time and two aircraft. Read more about them here: http://www.post8.org/
This location was also chosen because of its connection to Longren. Phillip Billard bought aircraft #5 from Longren and used to fly it around Topeka. That aircraft is on display at the KS Museum of History. Read more about it here: http://www.kshs.org/p/cool-things-longren-s-biplane/10107
So if you’re in the neighborhood, I’d love to see you there!
Jesse R. Romo
Manager, Federal-State Affairs
Division of Aviation
Kansas Department of Transportation
700 SW Harrison St., 2nd Fl-N
Topeka, KS 66603-3745
785-296-2553
