Story ID: 
NATA Adds GA Airports Committee 
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: NATA's new GA Airports Committee follows the creation of a subcommittee focused on the air ambulance community.
Word Count: 230
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) is expanding its advocacy outreach with the launch of a General Aviation Airports Committee.

The committee will focus on safety, quality, and security issues impacting airports and aviation businesses, including concerns associated with Covid-19, landlord/tenant relations, airport revenues, fuel quality, fire codes, customs, lease agreements, minimum standards, and hangar development. Lara Kaufmann, associate director at the Greenville Downtown Airport (KGMU) and Ben Harrison, general manager at the Cullman Regional Airport (KCMD), will cochair the committee.

NATA counts more than 300 general aviation airports among its membership.

“Our association committed to the formation of the General Aviation Airports Committee to highlight the valuable services and jobs that the business aviation industry provides to their communities,” said NATA chairman Curt Castagna. “This effort is consistent with NATA’s mission to encourage fostering collaborative approaches between airport sponsors, aeronautical tenants, and the surrounding community in addressing challenges and opportunities that support maximizing the economic potential for such public/private partnerships.”

Besides forming the Airports Committee, the association recently stepped up its focus on the air ambulance sector by creating an Air Ambulance Subcommittee within its Air Charter Committee. The subcommittee is looking at issues such as the movement of Covid-19 patients, medical crew rest and duty rules, broker transparency, international regulations, and the shuttering of rural hospitals.