Saving airports

A: Aircraft owners and pilots clearly understand the value of an airport. AOPA works hard to ensure that decision makers at all levels of government share that understanding. We are committed to preserving and protecting airports across the United States.

Explaining the economic benefit of an airport is one way to demonstrate to your community that the airport plays a vital, quantifiable role in your local economy. To prove that general aviation airports provide economic benefit, use a national or individual state economic analysis of your airport’s impact. Most states have an economic impact report, and many publish specific airport information, and most impact studies can be found online at each individual state’s department of transportation website or on the FAA’s and AOPA’s Airport Support Network program websites. The FAA has compiled individual economic impact data related to commercial and general aviation into an easy-to-access online tool. In addition, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association report “General Aviation’s Contribution to the U.S. Economy” provides a comprehensive national perspective of general aviation’s economic impact in the United States. Local GA airports produce identifiable economic benefits that exceed the tax dollars spent on operating and maintaining the facilities. When examining your state’s economic analysis of aviation, three key terms are used: direct impact, indirect impact, and induced impact.

Direct impact is associated with providers of services at the airport. These providers include the airport operator, FBOs, air carriers, freight haulers, concessionaires, government installations, educational institutions, military facilities, flight schools, and maintenance operations, among others. The value of direct impact is the sum of all payroll, capital expenditures, operating and maintenance costs, taxes, and fees incurred by every provider of services.

Indirect impact is associated with the users of airport services. These include both corporate and public users, government agencies, and aviation and non-aviation businesses. The value of this impact is the sum of the fees and charges paid, time and cost savings, and expense related to food, lodging, ground transportation, and similar outlays.

Induced impact is the additional local economic impact that is generated specifically because of the airport’s presence, including related employment, payroll, and employer expenditures. Induced impact also includes the successive rounds of spending caused by the direct and indirect impacts. This “multiplier effect” measures the extent to which the indirect and induced impacts flow from the direct impact.

Some studies may include employment data and tax revenue data, which can also be further classified as direct, indirect, or induced. While not every report contains this data, when available, it can provide additional evidence of GA’s importance.

General aviation benefits a community in many ways that cannot be fully explained in monetary value. After all, how do you put a price on the air ambulance flight that saves a life, a police flight that captures a burglar, or a firefighting flight that saves a neighborhood?

aopa.org/advocacy/airports-and-airspace