SAVING GENERAL-AVIATION AIRPORTS

[...]more than 800 airports were developed or expanded under the WPA, including some of today's most prominent commercial airports, such as LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW), Logan International Airport (BOS), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and Portland International Airport (PDX).12 Each of these airports is responsible for serving many millions of passengers annually.13 The WPA was also responsible for the development or expansion of numerous General Aviation Airports, including Stinson Municipal Airport (SSF), the second oldest General Aviation Airport in continuous operation in the United States today; Hartford-Brainard Airport (HFD), one of the busiest General Aviation Airports in Connecticut; and Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), previously Tampa's primary airport but since converted to a General Aviation Airport.14 Many General Aviation Airports created or expanded under the WPA, however, have been closed over the years, including Beltsville Airport in Beltsville, Maryland; Oxford Municipal Airport in Oxford, Mississippi; and Raleigh Municipal Airport in Raleigh, North Carolina.15 With the closure of each airport developed or expanded under the WPA, the United States loses a historical byproduct of a program that put millions back to work in critical years following the Great Depression. Due to this disparity, General Aviation Airports relieve tremendous pressure on commercial airports, as evidence by the fact that general aviation aircraft flights account for just 4 percent of the total traffic at the busiest airports used by the commercial airlines.17 The widespread closure of General Aviation Airports, then, can create a negative domino effect felt by businesses and the ordinary commercial airline traveler alike; when General Aviation Airports close, more business aviation traffic must move to commercial airports, resulting in less efficient business travel to remote locations and wasted executive time; when more business aviation traffic moves to commercial airports, the commercial airports are forced to accept less commercial airline traffic; and when commercial airports are forced to accept less commercial airline traffic, the ordinary commercial airline traveler is presented less flight options and possibly higher ticket prices. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there were 609,306 pilots in the United States in 2017, as compared to 609,737 in in 2005.18 This lack of growth is troubling