Serving Midwest Aviation Since 1960

Airport Conversations Can Create Productive Dialogue

Happy New Year from the Minnesota Pilots Association! It is customary to make some New Year’s resolutions and while it may be helpful to do so we often forget exactly what those resolutions were!

For me, there are always mistakes made during the year which make me make a mental note “not to do that again,” and that becomes sort of a mini-resolution.

Some of those might even make it into my personal checklist, lest my memory fails me and I repeat the mistake again. With this in mind

I would like to offer a suggestion for each of us to try to accomplish in 2022.

President John F. Kennedy said, “Think not of what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” While I think we need to adhere to his words, we can also apply his thought to aviation, particularly our airports.

What can you do for your airport? Each airport in Minnesota has its unique attributes, and each has its own needs. Who is in a better position to evaluate those needs than you, an aviator who flies out of your airport?

One of jobs that I have come to appreciate over my flying career is the role of the airport manager at my airport. I have flown out of airports in which the airport manager is very active and present at the airport, and I have witnessed airport managers who were “less engaged.” Regardless, we might choose this year to make an effort to get to know our airport manager, to give them a call and ask if you can meet them for coffee or a Coke and a smile. This might be a shock for that person, given that the times they tend to hear from a local pilot is when something isn’t working correctly. “The hangar door doesn’t open,” or perhaps “The restroom isn’t very clean” and the seasonal “The snowplow piled up snow making it impossible to taxi to the runway.” The list probably goes on and on, and if that person is not an aviation advocate it would be quite difficult to be proactive in a positive direction.

It is my experience that many airport managers have limited conversations with aviators, and welcome the chance to receive positive feedback about the job they are doing. I would venture to speculate that not many airport managers routinely read the comments that are left on aviation websites like Airnav or ForeFlight, and would be quite surprised at what they might learn. The same goes for your local airport commissioners, many of whom are not aware, or even care, how their airport is perceived by pilots. You might make a mental note to attend some of your airport commission meetings and contribute to their understanding of your airport.

Turning the table to “What can we do for you?” from “What can you do for me?” will likely be quite rewarding and conductive to a productive dialogue with those in charge of your airport. Spreading some goodwill often pays off!

 

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