Make Your Airport Great with the Right Management Structure
Published on April 2023
I fly from the Pinehurst (NC) aerodrome, home to the golf capital of America. The economic impact of that airport is $107 million. About ten minutes north is Raleigh Executive Jetport which hosts the largest flying club in North Carolina, a brand-new terminal, and an impressive roster of business aircraft. The value returned to its community is a robust $62 million. But a few miles to the west is Siler City. While it has runways, ramps, and instrument approaches roughly equivalent to both Pinehurst and Sanford, Siler City is an aeronautical ghost-town with an economic impact of merely $8 million. How does one explain these diverse results? The answer is that airports are competitive businesses and need to be run like businesses. There’s a new study which explains this process. The results are enlightening.
