Role of the Airport

Understand: The roles of an airport in the community and the national aviation system.

It is often said “when you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport”. This points to the fact that to begin understanding the role of your airport you can become familiar with three federal planning studies that present the primary functions of an airport, what activity is occurring, and how it fits into the larger regional and national context. Over half of the public-use airports in the United States appear in the NPIAS, and those airports that primarily serve GA functions also appear in General Aviation Airports: A National Asset (ASSET 1) and possibly in ASSET 2: In-Depth Review of the 497 Unclassified Airports (ASSET 2).

Individual states also participate in the planning process and produce their own statewide airport system plans. These plans frame each airport in the context of its role within a state, rather than at the national level, by creating state-defined classifications for their airports. You can locate and use state system plans to assist with determining the role of an airport at the individual state level.

At the local level there are many roles of the airport. Understanding these roles gives further context to the overall functionality of the airport. Although providing air service or a place for corporate and recreational flying are commonly understood uses, numerous aviation and non-aviation roles and services are provided by airports to their communities and are discussed in the toolkit.

Explore: How does your airport fit into the specific local and regional context?

Every airport has a role in a broader regional context within the community it serves. This extends to not only the aviation community but also to a much larger system that includes the airport as an economic engine, an emergency service provider, an educational institution and the list goes on. As outlined in the Understand section, the specific roles that an airport takes can be dependent upon its infrastructure, operational activities and even its geographic location in relation to other airports. At the same time, each airport also has a role as part of the community. That role is defined in part by its relationship with the community. In some cases, the relationship between the airport and the community is carefully cultivated while in other instances, the airport and community may barely co-exist.

Explore the current role of your airport. Find out if your airport is in the NPIAS or ASSET reports and discover what this indicates about the role of your airport. Next, use this section to explore farther and find out the role your airport is currently fulfilling in the community and a larger regional context.

Take Action: Begin conversations with the community and change existing plans or systems.

A much greater emphasis needs to be put on the role that an airport can serve in the broader community because airports can often be seen as an organization separate from the community. It’s important to understand how the airport may appear to be separate or distant in order to frame the conversation about building a relationship between the airport and the community. The following outlines some of the methods that can be undertaken to develop the relationships that are fundamental to the creation of a more well received and understood airport in the local community.

Use the topics presented in the section to: learn how to act on the classification of an airport in the NPIAS, and what could change its status; recognize airport advocates and make new connections to the community through the many roles of the airport; and reach out to the community and tell the story of your airport.