Plan vital for Minnesota airport's future, AOPA says
By AOPA ePublishing staff
Crystal Airport could soon have a plan in place that will help ensure that the airport continues to play an important role as a reliever in the Twin-Cities area.
The Finance, Development, and Environmental Committee of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) voted 9 to 2 on Dec. 5 to approve the Crystal Airport Comprehensive Plan and send to the full commission for a vote on Dec. 17. AOPA has urged MAC members to adopt the plan.
"Local pilots and tenants have made compromises in working with the MAC staff to develop the new plan—compromises, which we believe, are in the best interest of all parties and that allow additional development in and around the airport," wrote Bill Dunn, AOPA vice president of airports, in a letter to the commission.
AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer Kevin Rebman has worked on the plan with local pilots and the MAC.
Dunn noted that the mayor of Crystal wants to close the airport, claiming that it is unsafe, but neither the FAA nor the NTSB have data suggesting that is the case. Additionally, 61 percent of respondents to a survey said Crystal Airport was an important asset to the city. It's also an important asset to the entire metropolitan area—Crystal serves as a general aviation reliever airport for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Wold Chamberlain Airport.
December 6, 2007
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