FAA Launches Second Phase of GA Airport Study

The FAA is continuing to refine its categorization of the nearly 3,000 GA airports around the country, picking up where it left off in last spring’s General Aviation Airports: A National Asset. That study identified the many functions airports provide, among them medical transport, search-and-rescue, disaster relief, aerial firefighting, law enforcement, remote community access, flight training and air cargo. Considered a tool to assist the agency and state aviation authorities in planning decisions, the study reflected current aviation activity at the airports. In examining the critical and diverse roles airports serve, last year’s report determined four airport categories: national, regional, local and basic, driven by the number and type of based aircraft, number of passenger boardings and types of flights, yet more than 500 of the airports did not fit clearly into any of those categories. This latest effort will work at defining an appropriate category for them.