EAA Steps In For Second Time In Two Years
If the folks who work each year to organize the Western Michigan
Fly-In feel a little put upon right now, perhaps they have a good
reason... as for the last two years, they've had to call in outside
help to ensure the FAA would provide a temporary control tower for
their event at Padgham Field (35D) in Allegan, MI.
Whereas last year the FAA blamed its initial decision to
yank the tower on an administrative snafu -- which was cleared up
after a friendly call from EAA officials -- this year, organizers
of the fly-in were told that sure, they could have a tower... but
it would cost them $3,200 for the one-day event.
Fortunately, fly-in officials have the EAA on speed dial. EAA
Government Relations Director Randy Hansen went to work on the
issue, and within one business day had received assurances that a
temporary tower and the controllers would be provided as part of
the FAA’s normal services, with no charges to the fly-in.
"I talked with Nancy Kort (area terminal operations manager at
the FAA Great Lakes Regional Office) and Dave Ausherman (Acting
Manager, Airspace and Procedures Branch Central Terminal
Operations), and we jointly resolved the issue," said Hansen. "The
FAA fully realizes that the fly-in is a non-profit event designed
to promote the airport and its activities to the local community,
and that they don’t charge community members a fee to enter
the airport grounds for the fly-in."
While it all worked out in the end, to EAA member Andy Millin --
a member of the airport’s advisory board who arranges for the
fly-in’s tower each year -- the proposed charge sure sounded
like the first implementation of user fees... and an expensive one
at that.
"This turned out to be
a whole lot more about pilots, the FAA, and user fees than it was
about a regional airport holding a fly-in and wanting a temporary
control tower," Millen said. "When you’re in the air with
that many airplanes, you need to have a tower. We really felt like
we were trapped between a rock and a hard place; we could not
safely hold the event without a tower."
Of course, the EAA -- like many of the aviation "letter groups'
(with the notable exception of the ATA, of course) -- strongly
opposes user fees as a funding mechanism for any air traffic
control services.
Temporary towers are authorized "to provide for the safe ingress
and egress for the aircraft involved and for maximizing flight and
ground safety for the users and the spectators" -- a condition the
Western Michigan Fly-In certainly meets, with as many as 60
operations at the field per hour at peak times. That includes as
many 300 Young Eagles flights, as well.
"We had quite a bit of feedback from other fly-ins, people
concerned about this ever happening to them," said Millin, who
added that 35D becomes Michigan’s busiest airport during
their fly-in. "From the pilot side, many responded angrily that we
would ever capitulate and pay the fee. They would rather have us
not have the tower because they didn’t want anyone paying the
first user fee."
"I can understand that, and I respect their position, but we
feel that a tower is needed for our event given the high volume of
traffic that occurs. We have to be safe." Millin claims that
Allegan is the state’s busiest airport during the fly-in.
Before the FAA cried uncle on the matter, people and companies
stepped up and pledged donations to help cover the tower charges
should they have been upheld. By Monday afternoon, Millin said they
had received pledges to cover about 90 percent of the $3,200.
"But if we had paid this much this year, how much was it going
to be next year? What other things are we going to be paying for?
Nobody liked the direction this was going," he said.
"We’ve held them at bay for a little while," said Millin,
"and if it’s not us next year, who is it going to be?"