Springfield aviation director joins national board

Gary Cyr, director of aviation for Springfield-Branson National Airport, was chosen as a member of the board of directors for the American Association of Airport Executives, the country’s largest aviation lobbying organization.

“This appointment means that our airport, along with other airports in the region, now has a chance to influence federal aviation issues that affect every member of the flying public,” Cyr said in a news release.

Cyr pointed to two issues as most pressing for airports: federal security requirements and federal funding of airport infrastructure. On the issue of security, Cyr said he worries about unfunded security mandates from the federal government.

“It’s easy for the federal government to make new, expensive requirements, and then expect airports to pay for them,” Cyr said. “We’re all in favor of good security, but airports don’t have a blank check to pay for it.”

As far as federal funding goes, the AAAE is lobbying the federal government to provide financial tools for airport capital improvements needed because of increasing passenger traffic.

“The enormous growth in passenger traffic is pushing airport facilities to the brink,” Cyr said. “Federal funding, provided by user fees, has been capped at the same level since 1998.”

The current fees, called passenger facility charges, are $4.50 per passenger; a bill proposed in Congress would increase that to $7.

Cyr knows a thing or two about capital improvement projects; Springfield-Branson National is in the midst of a $119 million midfield terminal project, funded in part by federal grant money.