Fri, Sep 18, 2009
GAMA Counters Misleading Article On The Role Of GA
Airports
GAMA has countered a USA Today feature article on federal
support for general aviation (GA) airports. In a letter to the
paper's editor, GAMA expressed their disappointment regarding the
mischaracterization of the role GA airports play in the nation's
transportation system.
"Our aviation infrastructure is designed to support communities
large and small throughout the nation. Unfortunately, the airlines
have had difficulty serving many of these communities. The General
Accounting Office (GAO) found that in 2008, 38 airports lost all
scheduled commercial service, with this rapid decline continuing
into 2009," said Pete Bunce, GAMA's president and CEO.
GAMA also pointed out that GA airports serve as economic engines
and are the lifelines to thousands of small to mid-size communities
throughout the country. It is important to note that general
aviation's overall economic output in the U.S. is $150 billion
annually and the industry supports more than 1.2 million jobs.
"It is the local airport that provides the portal for time
critical parts and supplies to flow to and from businesses. Your
reporters need to look no further than 40 miles south of the USA
Today headquarters to see what tremendous impact the Culpepper and
Stafford airports have had on the economic development of their
communities," said Bunce (pictured below).
GAMA also noted that even in large cities, general aviation
airports that have no airline service serve as huge economic
engines. Located just a few miles south of downtown Denver,
Centennial Airport is one such economic powerhouse. A 2008 Colorado
Department of Transportation study concluded that the jobs
generated by Centennial number 10,485 with annual economic output
to the community in excess of $897 million dollars.
He concluded, "At this time of severe economic distress, it is
unconscionable that USA Today would mount such an ill-timed and
unwise attack on an essential economic tool for our nation's
recovery."
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