Comments on: Tiny Airports Get Big Cut of Stimulus Cash

Small, Rural Airports Get Big Payouts While Safety Violations at Major National Airports Get Little Attention

[aviationgeek84]

This is NOT a "rich mans" club. If you think it is, educate yourself. www.gaservingamerica.org

I am amazed that CBS News would even think of broadcasting a story like this, that effectively is biting the hand that feeds them. CBS News has been using General Aviation (G/A)for it's news gathering operation for over 50 years. It was through the use of G/A that CBS News was able to break the story about Acid Rain. CBS News used G/A to follow the presidential primaries for years when the fastest way to transmit video was by carrying it from rural areas to their stations by helicopter. Without the G/A airports, there would have not been any place from which the helicopter could operate.
CBS News uses G/A facilities all over the country for their news gathering, traffic reporting and crew placements. General Aviation facilities are the backbone of the transportation system that you use to keep your viewers informed.
With this one story, you are bad mouthing the very system that you require to present current information to your listeners.
This one story casts doubt into your ability to fairly and honestly present any news to the public since you have an inside view of the workings of G/A through your daily use of the system.
I know of CBS News's use of G/A since I leased a helicopter to them for over 10 years.
Shame on you CBS News.

[aviationgeek84]

What a terrible, terrible news story. General aviation supports many functions throughout this country every single day and every single hour.

Research something for once. Try it out - you might like it.

[BHoge]

Shame those involved in this horribly slanted report. Most small municipal airports in this country receive little or no money from the government, local or federal. They are for the most part totally dependent on sales from fuel, maintenance, flight lessons and charter services located on the field. (all of which are taxed except for flight lessons)In other words, small airports are self sufficient small businesses and in these tough economic times make it difficult if not impossible to fund even the smallest of airport repairs and upgrades. Also the majority of the traffic in and out of these airports are not the ultra rich CEO's with private jets, but small piston powered planes used to provide much needed air services to areas that are no where near a city with regular scheduled airline service. This stimulus money creates jobs and improves airport safety and infrastructure for small communities with low tax revenue If CBS wants to do a story on the government wasting our money, how about doing a story on the billions of tax dollars being wasted on large corporations who can afford the private jets rather than the small airports they are supposedly using.

[POGOP38]

Ask United or any of the others, how much fuel taxes they pay per gallon.Yet we the public provide all the services.

[RVdriver]

It's truly unfortunate in this country that the national reporting organizations spend so much effort to spin their articles in such a way as to divide opinions. Clearly, this story left out the other side completely. To all those who believe the premise that small airports are for a select few, should also consider the roads that lead to their own homes. I know at least some of my tax dollars are funding the upkeep of those roads, even though I will most likely never use them. That is part of what is called infrastruture. We ALL benefit, whether you see it or not. Shame on CBS for their self serving reporting. Wouldn't we all be better off if all sides of an issue were put on the table so informed decisions could be made?

[Falken634]

Wow, I'm speechless at how poorly researched this story is. Many more intelligent people know how valuable these regional and rural airports are to their community from giving them public transportation to the other many purposes they serve such as medical, agricultural, various industrial uses such a pipeline/powerline inspection, flight training, surveying, business connectivity, firefighting, and the list goes on. Sad to see such extreme laziness on the behalf of this writer, this reporter ought to be fired.

[marccoan-2009]

It's amazing how many things the reporter left out of the story...which is common when laypeople write about complex technical subjects. (If they are ignorant about the aviation industry, think about how ignorant they are about the industry YOU'RE in.)

My final comment is this: The reporter, in his or her ignorance, failed to explain that many of these airports are FAA reliever airports. What that means is that they exist to provide private, corporate, air ambulance, etc. aircraft a place to land so they don't have to use major airline airports.

In other words, without these airports, your airline flight would be far more likely to be delayed.

[marccoan-2009]

Let's call a spade a spade: The real complaint here is that urban taxpayers have to subsidize rural living. If we want to have that conversation as a country and whether that is in our country's best interests, then fine, let's do it. But as long as we ARE continuing to subsidize places like Alaska and upstate NY, supporting rural air infrastructure is a legitimate expense.

Remember: These airports are used by air ambulance, search and rescue, firefighting, small package express services, as well as local businesses. Would you want to live in a rural area without these services? I wouldn't.

[marccoan-2009]

The intention of at least some of the stimulus was about generating immediate jobs. Airports met that requirement more than many other projects. That's because FAA requires airports to have multi-year master plans for improvements. If those improvements were scheduled anyway, and the engineering was already done, those were most eligible to begin construction fast and get people working. All the stimulus did was make it so these scheduled improvements could be made this year instead of in coming years. Not a big deal.

Let's also remember that the majority of Airport Improvement Program expenditures are paid from the Aviation Trust Fund, which is paid with airline ticket taxes and fuel taxes. Except that Congress raids the Trust Fund in order to fund spending on non-aviation projects (which can be done without making the deficit look bigger).

A case could be made that the stimulus funds are simply paying back all that money that was borrowed from the Trust Fund so that it could be used for the purpose intended.

[tpjaskal]

The Purdue University Airport is the second busiest airport in the state of Indiana with over 130,000 take offs and landings every year. The fact that one skunk was reported hit by a plane in 1996 does not reflect the countless coyote,deer,racoon etc that are removed every year by the Pest Management staff. CBS does not have all the facts and should before commenting on the issue.

[Gates89]

While I agree that PORK spending is a major issue with our government, maintaining the national aviation infrastructure is vitally and critcally important to this country. Please see the General Aviation Serves America website for more information.......

[platteman]

Better in their rat hole than in the rat hole in washington DC.

[harpoot]

This is called PORK my friends. Both parties are equally deep in the trough.

[Gates89]

While I agree that PORK spending is a major issue with our government, maintaining the national aviation infrastructure is vitally and critcally important to this country. Please see the General Aviation Serves America website for more information.......

[Ordflyer]

Let's hear about "country club" airports the next time your friend or relative needs to be medivaced from an automobile crash. Perhaps you should stop driving your "private coach" and take the bus instead??

Your "country club" airport is generating MILLIONS of dollars into YOUR local economy. Who do you think:

*Flies the EMS and organ donor flights?
*Maintains the airplanes?
*Resurfaces the runways
*Sells the gas?
*Provides Training?
*Provides Security?
*Mows the grass?
*Flies the Fed Ex carrier that delivers your urgent local packages?
*Runs the tower?
*Runs the airport?
*Pays millions in tax dollars via fuel taxes?

Just because you don't see activity the exact moment you drive by in your "private coach" doesn't mean that your local airport isn't creating MILLIONS of dollars for YOUR local economy.

THESE ARE JOBS!!!! Local, high paying, jobs that make your local economy prosper and grow.

[Ordflyer]

These "tiny airports" are just like the small businesses that America needs to encourage and develope. They generate MILLIONS of dollars for their local economies. And let's not forget that every gallon of aviation fuel is TAXED to to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars - historically this money not been used to maintain our aviation infrastructure.

These "small airports" and "small airplanes" generate 1.3 MILLION, high paying, high wage jobs in the United States. That's a HUGE employer in my book!

THE "SMALL AIRPORTS" ARE A GREAT INVESTMENT!!

This article is pretty lopsided CBS!!!!!

[OhSoWrong]

re: jsd330

Just because there's no lights on there at night doesn't mean that the airport is closed. Also there are some airports where the pilot can turn on the airport lights from the air at night.

As for the upgraded marinas if it's "shovel ready", public use, and the general public receives some benefits from it than in short yes, but not just because fireboats, rescueboats etc. us it.

[Kusername]

CBS's obviously didn't want the whole story get in the way of the biased story they wanted to tell.

The money received by the Williamson-Sodus Airport wasn't to give a flying club a place to fly. The flying club operates the airport for the public's use (a requirement for any FAA grant).

Small airports are a critical part of this nation's aviation infrastructure. The major airports that CBS thinks should get the money are great if you need to travel between major cities, but airlines only serve about 500 communities, and major airports constitute only a small number of those. For many communities, small airports and general aviation aircraft are their only connection to the nation's air transportation system and are critical to economic development. Access to a airport is a key factor for many companies when they are looking for place to locate a facility.

The story said that "...nobody would tell us how many unemployed workers, if any, were hired to pave the Flying Club's runway." It is clear by their saying "nobody would tell us" rather than "nobody could tell us" that they wanted to give the impression that people were hiding something. I doubt anyone they asked knew. I you higher a contractor to something, would you know if any unemployed workers were hired to do the work? Even if no unemployed were hired, that doesn't mean the project didn't prevent some workers from being laid off.

[platteman]

It is only money, not like it is life or death!!!

[Kirk_Wennerstrom]

There are tens of thousands of interstate highways I have never driven - yet my tax-dollars still go towards paving them. Many run through rural areas and deserts - should we ask just those few residents to pay for the hundreds of miles?
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Of course not. Unlike the ones who wrote this slanted "news" story, I realize that the whole nation benefits from better transportation. Even though I don't drive on many of this highways, the trucks that deliver my food, fuel and clothing do. Which is why my tax dollars should pay for them. The rural farm community in Iowa cannot afford the miles of local interstate that runs through their town. But if we as a whole don't pay for it, we don't eat.
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Same is true of these airports. Overnight delivery services, medevac flights, police and businessmen all use small airports because of their speed and efficiency.
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Yes, businessmen - the populist image of the corporate jet is as some kind of largesse or princely perk. But as a stockholder of a company which would you rather have? The CEO standing in a security line for hours with his shoes off? Or spending those hours meeting with the client and closing the big deal?
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And yes, private planes fly out of these small airports, too. Just like vacationers drive on interstate highways. Should we reserve federal highways only for essential goods and services?
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And let's follow the money - aviation taxes on fuel pays for the majority of airport projects, just like gasoline taxes pays for most interstate highways.

The big difference between the two? One mile of interstate gets you only one more mile down the road. But a mile of runway gets you anywhere in the world.

[GripeResponder]

Excellent.