AOPA backs effort to preserve Washington airport
Regional manager testifies, visits Mansfield
The public sponsor of the somewhat sleepy airport in Mansfield, Washington, has been looking into unloading the airfield to manage cost and focus on the port authority's other airport. AOPA is working with local advocates to keep Mansfield's airport open.
AOPA Northwest Mountain Regional Manager Brad Schuster recently flew to Mansfield Airport for lunch at a local restaurant to visit with a wide range of airport stakeholders seeking to make an in-person case for safeguarding the airport’s long-term survival.
Mansfield Airport advocates just want to make sure that if and when their local airfield is purchased, it remains as an airport serving both the state and the community.
In 1950 and with great fanfare, Mansfield, the “town at the end of the rails,” finally got its own airport. Roughly 75 years after the airport was built, economics and relative disuse have put the facility at risk of closure.
Over the years, the airport has changed owners—sponsors in FAA jargon—several times. The CDRPA, which functions as the principal economic development agency for Chelan and Douglas counties, is between a rock and a hard spot. Although the authority recognizes the intrinsic value of the airport, from the counties’ perspective, the airport, which hosts fewer than 200 operations in a typical year, has become too expensive to maintain. As a result, CDRPA is currently working with the Washington State Department of Transportation Aviation Division to consider allowing CDRPA to be released from its state grant obligation to maintain the airport as an airport. The port authority is also asking its board to allow the airport to be deemed as “surplus,” thus allowing the organization to sell the airport to a willing buyer.
Enter Thomas Tupling, who, although not a pilot himself, is a lifetime Mansfield resident and considers the airport not just mere associated infrastructure, but rather a central part of Mansfield’s past, present, and future—much too important an asset for him to sit idly on the sidelines whilethe airport is at risk of being closed. Tupling is a municipal development project manager working for a nearby town, so he very well understands city governance as well as the development and maintenance requirements of infrastructure, including airports. Not only has Tupling been an outspoken advocate for the airport, but he puts his money where his mouth is to the tune of thousands of dollars over the last year or so. Yes,, airport advocacy always takes time, and more often than not, money as well.
For the past several months, Schuster has worked closely with Tupling and other airport advocates seeking to persuade CDRPA to ensure Mansfield Airport remains open.
In February testimony to the CDRPA, Schuster asked the agency, on behalf of AOPA, to defer a final decision to declare the airport surplus pending further study.
“I believe the willingness to keep the airport is there but declaring it surplus, and offering it for sale, fails to recognize its significant value to the community now and into the future,” said Schuster. “Instead of declaring 8W3 surplus, alternative solutions should be explored to ensure its continued operation while minimizing costs.”
Schuster flew a Cessna 172 to Mansfield Airport on April 4 and spent the morning with CDRPA officials and airport advocates, later joining them at the Golden Grain Café for lunch. While he found some obvious cracks in the runway, it remains navigable. Schuster came away from the visit optimistic that CDRPA officials are serious about finding a way to keep the airport open, even if CDRPA is no longer the sponsor. For example, CDRPA has already budgeted to make significant repairs to the runway when the flying season winds down in September.
Schuster said he’s encouraged that Tupling and other airport advocates will do all they can to help achieve that. He is also encouraging AOPA members within range of Mansfield Airport to visit the airport, town businesses, and the local café whenever possible, but especially on April 26, when the airport will celebrate its seventy-fifth anniversary. A demonstration of sustained use is one important way that pilots can collectively contribute to helping keep Mansfield Airport operating long into the future.
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