|
As spring finally
arrives—yes, it is getting green in Wyoming—a new optimism
exists in the airport industry. After almost two years, Congress
finally has done the right thing and passed a multi-year bill for
aviation. Patience truly was a virtue, because the much-needed
agreement is potentially dramatically better than the past bills and
definitely better than the past two years of uncertainty. Please
note that I offer the word "potentially" as a key
statement about this re-authorization bill.
After attending last
month's Washington conference, I left with the distinct feeling that
Representative Schuster, the great AAAE legislative staff led by
Todd Hauptli, and the rest of our industry that worked so hard to
get this bill passed, have raided the cookie jar and there are only
crumbs left. Please don't get me wrong . . . I'm happy with the win
(heck, I love to win). The problem as I see it is tht this bill was
not a "win-win" for many in Washington. Now maybe in
Washington there never are "win-win" situations, it's only
winners and losers. If that's the case, I'm glad we finally won.
However, my sense is that the losers (the appropriators, the budget
committees, the Coast Guard, Amtrak and the Airlines) will not go
away and the game never really ends.
Of the losers, the ones
we need to be most concerned about is the appropriators and the
budget committee members. The general feeling is that after this
year's appropriation of $1.95 billion, despite creative legislative
intent by Rep. Schuster to secure the following three years
appropriations ($3.2, $3.3 and $3.4 billion respectively) it will be
exponentially more difficult each year to actually get the money
appropriated. In short, we as an airport industry, will have to
remain ever-diligent in our legislative efforts to actually bear the
fruits of our labor. Our Chapter Legislative Committee, with Paul
Bowers as Chairman, will be an important tool as we move forward.
Along with the positive
- yet cautious - legislative change, I am happy to report our
Chapter is poised for important membership growth. Although our
Chapter has been growing at a tremendous pace over the last six
years (more than doubled - from 122 to 283 members), it is the
membership participation of our larger Chapter airports that I see
as so critical for depth in our organization. We do not need to grow
just to grow. Our financials are great and our organization is very
healthy. Our growth needs are more intrinsic in nature. We need to
broaden our horizon, bring in new perspective, and expose our
organization to many of the hard-working industry employees of the
larger airports in our Chapter.
On the U.S. side, I want
to thank Gina Marie Lindsey of Seattle, John Brockley of Portland,
John Morrison of Spokane and Al Stuart of Salt Lake City for
allowing the Chapter to be introduced or re-introduced to your
employees. Additionally, Roger Sellick and Bill Restall from Canada
are doing a great job of acting as a liaison and facilitating our
exposure to Vancouver, Calbary and Edmonton. This newsletter, along
with newsletters for the rest of the year, will be provided to
employees of many of these airports. For those of you who are
reading this for the first time, please review information on page
seven which gives a short breakdown of the committees and some of
the activities and issues currently being pursued by the NWAAAE.
It is encouraging to see
the support we have received from the leadership of the large
airports in our Chapter. They understand that greater involvement by
their employees in industry association matters (education,
professional and personal growth, etc.) leads to more productive
employees at home and an overall healthier organization. We will
further highlight greater large airport involvement at the NWAAAE
Annual Conference in Spokane by having Gina Marie Lindsey of Seattle
and Larry Berg of Vancouver present strategies for successful
terminal expansion projects. Fully understanding that Chapter
membership growth is a long-term proposition, I am happy to have
begun these discussions and look forward to working with George
Larson and future Chapter leaders on continuing this initiative. |
