Can Airports Help Revive the Aviation Industry?

Can Airports Help Revive the Aviation Industry?

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I knew we had a lot of landing areas here in the United States … but 19,315 according to the FAA? Wow. That number is of course broken down into traditional airports, heliports, seaplane bases.

No matter what you call them or what they look like, they all have one thing in common. They represent a place where airplanes, helicopters and seaplanes come home to roost from time to time.

Some of those airports represent much more of an opportunity to me than simply as landing areas though.

The aviation industry is still suffering from an economic recession of sorts.

In the early 1980s, we produced 15,000 piston aircraft. Last year we produced 1,328. In the 1990s we had over 700,000 pilots on the FAA register. Today that numbers in the high 500,000s.

Student pilot starts are down from the old days too with nearly 7 in 10 students quitting long before they ever earn a pilot certificate. Aircraft maintenance technician numbers have been flat since 1990, which equates to zero growth. Worst of all, 75% of the AMTs today are over the age of 50.

As an industry, our ship has been taking on water for sometime despite a number of conscientious initiatives to increase the pilot, mechanic and airplane supply, most of which haven’t moved the needle much.

If we don’t figure out a way to start bringing new blood into the industry soon, there won’t be enough people to fly the airplanes we build, or fix them, or service them at those thousands of U.S. airports.

The question is how to fix the problem we all know about, but that many people still seem to believe is someone else’s problem?

Rather than another national initiative, what if we focused our triage efforts locally … at our neighborhood airport? When people think of learning to fly, they go to the airport. If they want to buy a plane they often visit the airport first. When they need one fixed, or they want a hangar, they head to the airport.

This is where I think airport managers can help. Traditionally, they focus on keeping the airport alive with solid pavement, newly mown grass and runway lights that work … all very necessary tasks. But marketing the industry is not something airport people normally think about.

But what if airport managers started thinking a bit more about marketing, I think they might just transform their airport into a local industry beacon of sorts, one that encourages people to learn to fly, or become involved in any of a half dozen other careers within the industry?

I’m not asking airport managers to fix the industry’s personnel woes all alone, just help coordinate local efforts with the airport tenants whose companies need the boost as much as the industry. Imagine organizing a couple of career days, or a Young Eagles Rally or two to stimulate interest.

What about an airport Facebook page or a blog to tell the local community about the value of the airport, one that regularly posts photos or stories gathered from airport tenants? Before you know it we might even convince the community around our airports to ignore those 8-foot barbed wire fences and stop in for a visit.

I think airport managers are up to the challenge of coordinating the local marketing efforts for our industry. We’ll talk more about the actual tactics in another episode too.

And for those naysayers who are already saying that will never work … tell me what you’d suggest instead because I haven’t seen much working lately.

If we don’t all start realizing that fixing what ails our industry is everyone’s concern … flight schools, FBOs, flying clubs, maintenance and avionics shops, trust me … we may one day find that the airport managers who are still around may have a lot fewer airports to watch over.

I’m Rob Mark. See you next time.

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