1.2 Intended Audience

The intended audience for ACRP Research Report 16: Guidebook for Managing Small Airports, 2nd edition, is the managers of these small airports. “Small airports” for the guidebook is defined as general aviation (GA) airports; nonhub commercial service airports; and public-use airports that are part of a state aviation system, but not the federal system, or not part of any system plan. Several documents define the federally obligated airports within this small airport definition, as well as the relationship of the airport manager to the policy board and stakeholders.

ACRP Report 58: Airport Industry Familiarization and Training for Part-Time Airport Policy Makers
Provides a tool for  managers of small airports to use to help airport policy leaders, stakeholders, and policy-related decision makers to understand airport administrative and operational requirements in order to make more informed policy decisions.

General Aviation Airports: A National Asset (Asset 1) and In-depth Review of 497 Unclassified Airports (Asset 2)
Documents an 18-month study (Asset 1) of the nearly 3,000 GA airports, heliports, and seaplane bases identified in the FAA’s National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). This in-depth analysis highlights for the traveling public the pivotal role GA airports play in our society, economy, and the aviation system. The study also groups the GA airports into four categories—national, regional, local, and basic—based on their existing activity levels. The new categories better capture their diverse functions and the economic contributions GA airports make to their communities and the nation. The follow-on study (Asset 2) was conducted to further analyze the GA airports that were unable to be classified into one of the four categories in the original study.

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
Identifies airports included in the National Airport System, the role they serve, and the amounts and types of airport development eligible for federal funding under the Airport Improvement Program in the next five years.