There are two sad realities that simply cannot be ignored in the long term. They are rules, for lack of a better term.
In no particular order, they are:
- Most people are not very good at their job, and
- The status quo is always wrong.
These guidelines being what they are, we have a couple choices. We can cry into our beer, bemoan the natural state of humankind, and maybe punch a wall in frustration now and then, or we can make a conscious decision to set our own personal and professional standards a bit higher than average.
A cursory glance at most airports that primarily support general aviation will prove out both statements.
The vast majority are under-performing entities with more cash going out than coming in. There are a variety of excuses for what might otherwise be considered mismanagement, but few of them hold water in the long run. It’s all just a lame excuse for acting in accordance with Rule Number 1.
Consider a handful of current business titans and ask yourself if they fall into either of our small categories of behavioral decrees. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Sir Richard Branson were not born into money. None inherited great wealth. All set out on a mission that was widely considered to be destined for failure. Yet between them they’ve made a profound impact on the world and its population.
Keep in mind, Musk continues to be derided in some circles as being on the cusp of collapse, even as his companies, Tesla, Boring, and SpaceX have become undisputed leaders in their respective fields.
Bezos was ridiculed for running a business that was seen as nothing more than an online bookseller that hemorrhaged cash quarter after quarter. Today, Amazon is one of the largest, most successful businesses on the planet, employing nearly 800,000 people.
Branson is dyslexic and performed terribly in school, leaving with no particular skills or abilities beyond a personal drive to succeed and an active imagination. From humble beginnings as the teenaged publisher of a start-up magazine in 1966, Branson has parlayed his successes into the massive Virgin Group, which now controls more than 400 companies worldwide.
Not bad for a collection of dreamers and weirdos who went against the tide with gusto regardless of what their less successful naysayers had to say.
In 2010 a shakeup happened at Lakeland Linder International Airport (KLAL) that has changed that central Florida airport for the better. A shakeup that could just as easily happen in your town, at your airport, and benefit your community. A shakeup that put a young, ambitious man named Gene Conrad into the driver’s seat at KLAL.
Gene developed his crew into a talented, customer-oriented management team. This is an organization that finds a way to say “Yes” when opportunities come their way, rather than deflecting them as is the more common approach. As a result, revenue has increased dramatically, tenants are proud to be located on the field, and the overseeing political body is thrilled with the jobs, tax dollars, and increased positive attention their city receives as the owners of a well-run, community-based airport.
One year after his arrival at the airport, the local newspaper ran a profile on Conrad that lists a quote from Mahatma Gandhi as a favorite, “The future depends on what we do in the present.”
Gene Conrad understands what those words mean.
In that single year, under Gene’s capable guidance, morale among tenants noticeably improved. Since then the airport has seen hotels pop up on its grounds, a fire house was constructed and staffed. An aerospace high school moved in, prompting Polk State College to follow suit. Flight schools and maintenance shops abound. Just this year Amazon Prime began operating out of the field.
Growth is good. Apparently, first-rate management practices applied by superior management teams who are dedicated to customer satisfaction makes a difference. Who knew?
Yes, that was sarcasm. We all know what it takes to be successful in business. Most of us just don’t make the attempt because of Rule 1.
Most airports that cater to general aviation are poorly run. That’s a sad, broad statement, but one that can be defended without a great deal of effort.
The bitter truth is most airport managers don’t see aviation for what it is, nor do they see their clientele for who they are. They see small airplanes, meager fuel sales, never-ending rounds of hangar maintenance, taxiway maintenance, runway maintenance, loads of complaints, and precious few returns from the expenditures and efforts.
What they don’t see is what Gene Conrad and his crew know to be the heart and soul of the airport. It’s a community that isn’t separated from its larger host. Rather, it’s an extension of the city they call home.
Tourism plays a role on the grounds, as do high school and post-secondary educational institutions. Airport management has diversified revenue streams to open up markets and opportunities most airport management teams won’t even consider. They’ve even got a solar farm on the grounds for goodness sake.
Perhaps most importantly of all, Lakeland’s success stems in large part from the conscious decision to value the airport’s tenants and put real effort into keeping them informed and satisfied.
Happy customers don’t just put more money in your till, they encourage others to come stuff your cash register full too. That’s Business 101.
Customer service is king! Too many of our airports skip that step in favor of being heavy handed, belligerent, even openly antagonistic toward their customers. Not surprisingly they aren’t successful financially, educationally, or in any other sense a community might measure the airport’s value.
Imagine what a remarkable asset your local airport would be if the management team took the attitude Lakeland Linder’s has taken.
The proof is right there for anyone to see. Get creative, find a way to say “yes,” and market the airport as the magnificent place we all know it could be. That’s where success will be found.
Trust me on this. I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum, and the crew at Lakeland Linder International Airport knows what they’re doing. Taking a page from their book can only serve your community airport better, I have no doubt.
Amen.
Unless thoughts, dreams and innovation result in tangibles you have nothing.
GA is a declining balance giving way to corporate elitism.
In 1982 I tried to buy an airplane at a local FBO. I had a pocket full of cash (very full of cash), made my intentions very clear, in fact pointed to a Traumahawk (which I knew I had enough cash to buy on the spot), which even had a “For Sale” banner on the prop, and asked “How much for that one?”
Nobody was interested in even discussing it with me. The sales manager was unavailable, come back in a week, in another week, in another week, and I finally said to heck with these clowns and bought an airplane – for cash – from someone else. I still have the airplane, they’re long gone.
(Can you imagine going into a car dealer and announcing that you have a pocket full of cash and want to buy a car today, in fact, not just today, but right now? What do you think the results would be? I’m willing to bet they’d be a tad different.)
Local FBO hired a brand new (non-flying) manager who immediately demanded that all the propellers on the parked airplanes be lined up vertically. He lasted about a week.
Another local FBO turned themselves inside out to prevent another aviation related business from moving onto the field. The new business wasn’t even a competitor, they were in a different area entirely. Hearing at the airport commission – “Don’t give them a license, they might fail!” Big mouth here said “This is America, he has the right to fail, and if he does, it is his problem not yours.” He got the license and in fact he did VERY well, and the complaining FBO has subsequently been through SIX new owners, a bunch of “reorganizations” and keeps sinking on a regular basis anyway. They might do better if they paid attention to their own business instead of everyone else’s.
Another FBO informed me that I HAD to buy fuel from them, gas cans were not allowed anywhere on the airport and got the local fire marshal to back them up. I invited the local FSDO to have a short discussion with them, and they were very quickly and completely cured of this delusion. The FSDO also had “a few” choice words with the fire marshal about jurisdiction over federally funded facilities, and said fire marshal hasn’t been seen or heard of since.
Jamie is absolutely correct, municipalities generally have NO CLUE as to what GA is about and in most cases aren’t interested in learning. The very LEAST we can do is get our own act together and stop being our own worst enemies. Remember Pogo – “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
An issue I have seen at several of the GA airports I have been at is this. When the status quo was maintained by seemingly uninterested managers that pined for the old days, inexpensive light planes were welcome. When the young 28-35 year old MBA was brought in to “revitalize the airport” things would change fast.They will quickly make it clear that If you don’t have two engines get out,or if you want a hangar here you better burn jet A.
The 1968 Cherokee with original paint,it is not welcome. Don’t even try to park something with fabric on it at many of those airports, unless it’s a new $480K Classic Waco that is passing through.
As a former airport manager of a regional municipal airport, my experience revealed the general attitude of most city, townships, and small town of their local airport is its a luxury item, a city money drain, and out of the comfort zone of the city board’s ability to manage. Therefore, most of the towns make provisions for a separate airport authority or commission that reports to the city periodically of any developments.
These airport authorities generally are volunteer positions made up largely of people who like to be on a variety of boards for the occasional press releases detailing their volunteerism. These folks generally appoint a couple of local pilots to make any decisions regarding the airport. Usually this results in an airport, essentially run by one or two local pilot aircraft owners who tend to make the airport a private affair catering to themselves. As long as a report goes to the city commission monthly, some hangar rent collected, and nobody crashes, the airport is simply “out there”, out of sight/out of mind of most of the local population. And that keeps the city commission happy.
Or, the pilot/owners are politically aggressive, take the time to learn AIP programs, invest themselves in long term goals and plans, and taking advantage of the yearly airport improvement funds. This is rare, but does happen. However, in both cases, a lot of power, and sometimes money, is in the hands of only one or two people.
GA airports are foreign to all people outside those involved in aviation. As common as an airplane is, lightplanes are a luxury, reserved for affluent, country club folks. Most average folks believe the airport is only useful to already well heeled people. Therefore any additional operating expenses are considered a drain on the city budgets.
Most people, including members of local community boards have no interest in aviation, any knowledge outside mainstream media coverage of a crash, and want nothing to do with the day to day operation. It is surprising how few of the local residents even know they have a local airport.
This circle of aviation ignorance keeps existing airports at a status quo of virtual invisibility being run by very few people who can either make it a private operation for their own use or spend a considerable amount of unpaid time and energy mostly in the education process of the local city commissions, making a case for the airport’s value to the local economy. You would think, 117 years after the Wright Brothers, mainstream America, running the local townships would have a better understanding of GA aviation. But they don’t.
We are losing airports daily, largely to ignorance. AOPA cannot save all of them.
This quip you have of “sad realities” sounds clever, but can you back it up? Sure there are people who perform poorly at their jobs but there are a lot of excellent performers as well.
At least at many airports, without a transient plane on the ramp or an AOA badge you can’t get out of the FBO. Same with boats, everything past the marina store is under lock and key. And yes, it is so for reasons.
The public is not free to view, mingle and peak their interests.
Along with that GA is doing a pretty good job of killing itself. You can only promote nothingness for so long.
Jamie,
Another informative, well written, and inspiring article. Thank you for your dedication to aviation. I’m giving this article to our airport manager and each board member.
Great story Jamie. Gene Conrad is a remarkable young man and a great individual to work with. The KLAL team he has assembled is second to none. He certainly lives the motto of “how do we get to yes …”. He is an advocate of those trying to make a positive difference in Lakeland’s aviation community.