... D. Kirk Shaffer is hot on the idea of rethinking how we allocate funds to general aviation airports. During a phone interview this week with AIRPORT BUSINESS, Shaffer talked about the need to prioritize and to allocate resources accordingly. At the wrap-up, he addressed it one more time.Â
“Let me finish up on the GA tiers,†he says, referring to the FAA’s proposal that a four-tier system for evaluating GA airports be established. Airports with 10-49 based aircraft would get an annual entitlement of $100,000; airports with 50-99 based aircraft, $200,000; and, airports with more than 100 based aircraft, $400,000. “You can see from that spread that what we’re trying to do throughout the legislative proposal is to focus our money on the airports that need it most, particularly the non-primes that have the least ability to pay for their capital needs.â€Â
FAA is also proposing it be allowed to grant funds for hangar maintenance and fuel farm upgrades – like funding a credit card reader to increase revenue – which it hasn’t been allowed to do. It’s akin to the discussion around pavement maintenance in the 1990s, says Shaffer, when FAA could help fund a runway but not its repair. In the long run, it cost more money. Shaffer calls such rules “silly.â€Â
While the FAA’s proposal now being discussed in the halls of Congress has many opponents (one key legislator called it dead on arrival), airport groups are finding a lot to like – PFC increases, etc. The call for reducing Airport Improvement Program funding levels sits as the biggest negative, but Congress once again doesn’t seem to have an appetite for that discussion. (Congress has balked at Administration calls for reductions in AIP before.)Â
Look for more of the one-on-one interview with Kirk Shaffer in our upcoming April AIRPORT BUSINESS magazine.Â
Thanks for reading. jfi    Â
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