Originally published in 2010
Recently, on three different occasions, USA Today published editorials severely criticizing the use of aviation industry generated taxpayer funds to improve “small airports” that do not have airline service and “benefit only a few private pilots.”
The following letter is my response to these editorials:
USA Today, Letter to the Editor:
My name is Dave Fulton. I am the Director of the Texas Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division. Our primary mission is the development and maintenance of a statewide system of airports in Texas. I am writing this letter in response to recent editorials appearing in your newspaper criticizing the expenditure of taxpayer funds to support general aviation airports throughout the nation. Your editorial reflects the same lack of understanding of the benefits of general aviation and general aviation airports that has plagued general aviation throughout its history.
Admittedly, only a small percentage of the public use general aviation on a regular basis. However, the benefits of general aviation for the public go far beyond personal use. Every day, you or someone you know, is directly benefiting from general aviation. When a member of your family is airlifted to a medical center, when someone’s home is saved from a forest fire, when a criminal is captured due to airborne surveillance, when you receive overnight airborne package delivery, when someone gets a new plant job in a rural area that would not have occurred without business aircraft access, these are all contributions made by general aviation.
The United States of America has the greatest commerical service air transportation system in the world, providing the public a rapid means of transportation between major metropolitan centers throughout the nation. But America is a large country with vast areas not accessible by the airlines. Imagine our country with the national interstate system but no state or _local highways. Certainly, we could drive across the country from north to south or east to west but how we would get to the cities and towns that do not have an interstate. The same is true for aviation. Without general aviation, many cities and towns would simply be left out. Economic development would suffer. As Sam Walton said when beginning his chain of Wal-Mart stores in rural areas many years ago, “I will not build a Wal-Mart store in a town that does not have an airport. I plan to visit my stores frequently and I don’t have the time to drive there.”
I appreciate the opportunity to express my views in your newspaper. I urge you to take the time to gain a better understanding of the benefits of general aviation and general aviation airports prior to commenting further on this important form of transportation.