Rhode Island's airport volunteers plan strategy

Collins met with the Rhode Island Airport Corp. at its headquarters at Theodore Francis Green State Airport in Providence on a dispute over the removal of obstacles on approaches to Westerly State Airport, a project that the state agency supports, but which is blocked by a court order.

Failure to clear tree growth from several parcels of private property on three of the airport’s four approaches by eminent domain—a project opposed by some property owners—could result in the permanent displacement of runway thresholds with implications for flight safety and a severe curtailment of the airport’s usefulness, Collins said.

The state agency and the Westerly Town Board have reaffirmed their intention to avoid permanent runway-threshold displacements in Westerly, and the state board plans to seek reversal of the injunction, he said.

The volunteers of AOPA’s Airport Support Network are the key human resource for pinpointing the special issues, challenges, and opportunities facing airports at the local level. There are currently five Airport Support Network volunteers in Rhode Island, four of whom attended the Feb. 1 meeting in Warwick, where they discussed issues including forming an advocacy group to address GA issues with state and local policymakers.

“AOPA continues efforts to strengthen the Airport Support Network to improve communication and better utilize this ‘human resource’ to further initiatives to preserve airports and promote general aviation,” Collins said.

He urged AOPA members in other states to consider volunteering to serve as “general aviation’s crucial human resource for taking action on your local airport community’s most important concerns.”