Aviation securityFAA studies general aviation airports

Published 5 July 2011

There are 368 primary airports in the United States — and 2,950 nonprimary, or general aviation, airports; the FAA is now studying the roles and functions of these general aviation airports; general aviation airports provide a variety of functions, ranging from access for emergency medical services, disaster relief, aerial firefighting, law enforcement, and border control to agricultural functions, flight training, charter passenger and time-sensitive air cargo services, among others

Albert Whitted Airport in St.Petersburg, Florida // Source: stpete.org

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it is taking a top-down look at the current general aviation airport system in the United States for the purpose of better describing and explaining the many roles and functions these airports serve. The review, which began last fall, is focusing on infrastructure needs, based on the roles and functions of the airports.

In recent years, the FAA has conducted two studies to look at capacity and development needs at commercial service airports, and now the agency is turning its attention to general aviation airports.

There are 2,950 nonprimary airports included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), including nonprimary commercial service, reliever, and general aviation airports. This is in contrast to the four distinct categories for the U.S. 368 primary airports.

The FAA says that defining these airports simply as “nonprimary” does not adequately describe the many diverse roles these airports play in their communities. General aviation airports provide a variety of functions, ranging from access for emergency medical services, disaster relief, aerial firefighting, law enforcement, and border control to agricultural functions, flight training, charter passenger and time-sensitive air cargo services, among others.

The FAA says it is working with aviation industry stakeholders including associations, state aeronautical agencies, airport directors, airport authorities, airport planners, local councils of governments, and aviation user groups to classify general aviation airports based on the roles they support. These stakeholders agree that more descriptive categories are needed in order to help the general public understand the importance of these airports and their capital investment needs.

The agency says that with input from aviation industry stakeholders, it will develop a list of classifications for general aviation airports and publish a report by January 2012.