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AOPA’s Airport Support Network Program: Supporting Texas Airports – One at a Time

March 27, 2013

By Yasmina Platt
Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association

A lot of attention is given to high-level issues in the national aviation media. “Will user fees be thrust upon us?” or “Is 100LL an endangered species?” The headlines frequently overshadow a lot of good work that is done at the local level, often one airport at a time. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) recognized the need for grassroots efforts at a time when general aviation airports were disappearing at a frightening rate, mostly due to land-use conflicts and economic pressures. Since most airports are owned by city or county governments, it was clear that early warning of an impending threat was critical to their survival. To address this need, AOPA established the Airport Support Network (Airport Support Network) program in 1997.

Volunteers were solicited to be AOPA’s eyes and ears at public-use airports, to sound the alarm if a threat loomed that might harm or close the airport. Presently, AOPA has 2,500 ASN Volunteers nationwide. Over the years, the program was grown from a defensive “save the airport” stance to a more proactive “let’s promote the airport” effort. Instead of waiting for trouble, investing the time to help a community understand the value of its local airport is an important activity we all need to support. Therefore, AOPA also wants to help recognize those airports/governments/public officials who are showing the positive value airports bring to a community, whether by way of holding an Airport Open House or supporting an airport improvement project. In addition, AOPA has created tools to help our members and ASNVs with their efforts, such as the Holding an Airport Open House or Participating in the Planning Process guides.

Texas has 182 ASN Volunteers who perform a wide range of activities that are supporting our airports. However, AOPA’s goal is to have an ASN Volunteer at every public-use airport in the U.S. This means we still need 133 volunteers in Texas to cover all the public-use airports we have in Texas. We need your help in filling those seats. The following is a list of some of the airports that currently need an ASNV:

Airport ID

Airport Name

City

OCH

A.L. MANGHAM JR REGIONAL ARPT

NACOGDOCHES
BBD

CURTIS FIELD

BRADY
IO6

CITY OF TULIA SWISHER CO MUNI

TULIA
BRO

BROWNSVILLE/S PADRE ISLND INTL

BROWNSVILLE
ASL

HARRISON COUNTY AIRPORT

MARSHALL
BKD

STEPHENS COUNTY AIRPORT

BRECKENRIDGE

PEQ

PECOS MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

PECOS

ELA

EAGLE LAKE AIRPORT

EAGLE LAKE

OSA

MOUNT PLEASANT REGIONAL ARPT

MOUNT PLEASANT

ARM

WHARTON MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

WHARTON

E35

FABENS AIRPORT

FABENS

RPH

GRAHAM MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

GRAHAM

RFI

RUSK COUNTY AIRPORT

HENDERSON

GNC

GAINES COUNTY AIRPORT

SEMINOLE

SNK

WINSTON FIELD

SNYDER

E38

ALPINE-CASPARIS MUNICIPAL ARPT

ALPINE

BFE

TERRY COUNTY AIRPORT

BROWNFIELD
E01

ROY HURD MEMORIAL AIRPORT

MONAHANS
ONY

OLNEY MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

OLNEY

For more information about the Airport Support Network (ASN) program and to view a complete list of airports that need volunteers, visit www.aopa.org/asn. If you want to know more about what’s going on in Texas or the Central Southwest Region (NM, TX, LA, OK, AR, KS, MO, NE and IA), visit http://www.aopa.org/?sc_itemid={AA34BCCF-5A3D-4485-012D-39F733E50284} or follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/AOPACentralSW).

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Filed Under: Wingtips Tagged With: Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Airport Support Network, AOPA, ASN program, Texas general aviation

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