CAA: GA News, "Severe security restraints cost region's small airports"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wednesday, September 26, 2001 

Severe security restraints cost region's small airports
FAA rules ground many private planes, forbid students to solo
Applies in 30-mile radius of Charlotte/Douglas Airport (expanded Class B
airspace)
By JIM WRINN 
The Charlotte (NC) Observer


Municipal and private airports in the Charlotte region are losing
hundreds of thousands of dollars because of Federal Aviation
Administration restrictions imposed after the Sept.11 terrorist attacks.

Airports are not making crucial fuel sales as planes sit grounded
because the FAA is temporarily requiring additional pilot training and
specialized instruments on aircraft flying within 30 miles of
Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

"Some of them have got to be starving to death,'' said Larry Morris, a
pilot trainer at Concord Regional Airport who owns Tarheel Aero Tech.
"There must be 20 airports in the Charlotte region that are affected.''

Regional airports, which handle leisure and business fliers as well as
some cargo, have avoided layoffs so far. 

FAA officials, who lifted restrictions on crop-dusters Tuesday, have not
said how long the larger restrictions will last, but they are expected
to be temporary. 

Operations at Gastonia's airport, home to 55 airplanes, are off 75
percent, and at Lincolnton, 80percent, said employees at the airports. 

"We're pretty much down to zero,'' said Kelly Worley of Race City
Aviation, which operates Lake Norman Airpark, a private strip that is
home to 60 airplanes just west of Mooresville.

"The sooner the restrictions are lifted, the better off we'll be.''

At Concord, one of the region's busiest airports, manager John Crosby
estimates revenues lost in the last two weeks at around $200,000. Phil
Hazel, who operates the Statesville Municipal Airport, said lost fuel
sales probably total $30,000. And at the Monroe Municipal Airport,
manager Nancy Lakeman said fuel sales have been cut by more than half.

"We're at a very slow pace,'' she said. "Normally, we have about 50
operations per day. I think last Friday I counted eight flights.''

Also grounded are traffic and news aircraft, some of which fly out of
regional airports, and many flight schools are under restrictions. 

The lone bright spot: Corporate charters have increased as some
companies seek to avoid commercial aviation.

"The companies are either not flying or they want to keep their people
off commercial flights or out of big cities,'' said Lakeman. 

Requests for advanced pilot training have risen as well, officials say. 

While the government has relaxed regulations enough to get planes flying
again, airports within a 30-mile radius of Charlotte/Douglas remain
under special restraints. For now, only pilots with advanced training
and planes equipped for instrument flight are allowed in the air.

"We've all been pretty much grounded,'' said Todd Low of Rock Hill, who
normally flies his own plane for his home décor business twice a week.
"You have to be a pilot with the right qualifications and have the right
aircraft. I have the training but not the plane.''

Business at Rock Hill's airport, a popular spot for corporate aircraft
looking to set down close to Charlotte while avoiding Charlotte/Douglas,
is off 50 percent, said coordinator Gene Musselwhite.

The region's pilot training schools have been hit especially hard. After
an initial shutdown, they've been allowed to gradually reopen, but those
immediately around the Charlotte airport are still under restrictions.
Students must take an instructor along; no solo flights are allowed.

"The flight schools are going to have to get creative to stay in
business,'' said Todd Bojta of ISO Aero Service in Concord, whose
business of 11 instructors and 16 aircraft is running at about 60percent
capacity.

"I've heard of people talk that if this goes on very long about
relocating airplanes (outside the 30 mile radius). It's going to hurt
the Charlotte market.''

The regional airports are seen by some as expensive but essential jewels
of commerce. 

The Statesville airport, outside the restricted area around Charlotte,
is relatively small but generated $2million last year and claims a total
economic impact of $22million.

At Hickory Regional Airport, business is off by about 33 percent for
operator Profile Aviation, said facility manager Brent Smith. The
company provides fuel, hangar space and repairs. Its flight school also
remains grounded.

Even when the FAA reopened air space, Profile's business dropped 75 to
80 percent, Smith said. The company so far has not laid off any of its
30 workers.

"They are anxious, but they understand why (business) is off," Smith
said, "and they are hoping things return to an approximation of normal."


US Airways Express, the Hickory airport's lone commuter operator,
reduced daily weekday flights to Charlotte to four from five last week,
airport Manager Larry Scantlin said. 

Hickory serves as a feeder to the airline's Charlotte hub, the only city
it serves out of Hickory. 

The aviation restrictions in the Charlotte area have generated more
questions than ever, said Morris, the pilot instructor in Concord.

"People who usually use their own airplanes for business have a bigger
interest in advanced training now,'' he said.

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