Massachusetts Statewide Airport System Plan
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Massachusetts Statewide Airport System Plan Executive Summary Aviation: Our Vital Link to the World In a world of instantaneous communications Massachusetts’ reliance on aviation will only continue to increase and rapid technological advances, the over time. Specifi cally, Massachusetts occupies center stage aviation industry remains the cornerstone in such rapidly-advancing industries as biotechnology, medicine, of the nation’s transportation system. While robotics, aerospace and others, which periodically emerge from its these advancements have certainly made world-renowned research universities that demand access to our world much smaller and faster, they markets across the globe. cannot replace the need for “face-to-face” However, to maintain that competitive advantage in a global economic personal communications that sustain solid setting, access to convenient and effi cient air travel is essential. While business ties. Aviation is the vital link that commercial airline services are often the most recognizable facet of continues to revolutionize the modern world aviation, it’s the lesser known general aviation segment of the industry by enabling people to make those personal that comprises nearly 97% of the nation’s airports. Many of these connections through business and recre- airports are located in population centers away from commercial ational travel that is conducted ever more airports and provide our businesses and industries with essential quickly, safely, effi ciently and affordably access to the National Airspace System. General Aviation is critical within the United States and throughout to our economy and way of life and provides many valuable public the world. service benefi ts such as, fl ight training, law enforcement, disaster The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has relief, medical evacuation, and search and rescue operations. been both witness to and benefi ciary of the Whether through facilitating airline passenger services at its century-long growth of air transportation, commercial service airports; accommodating corporate aviation beginning with the fi rst successful heavier- activities at its general aviation airports; or enhancing the quality-of- than-air, tethered fl ight by a human being life for residents and businesses within the Commonwealth, aviation in America in 1757 from the steeple of remains one of the key links to continued and future prosperity. And Boston’s Old North Church, to the develop- in order to provide it, Massachusetts needs its public use airports to ment of cutting-edge technologies through perform as a well-coordinated system that effectively serves every its dynamic aerospace industry. As our geographic region and market of the Commonwealth - one that is safe, economy continues to migrate from effi cient, and capable of meeting the changing needs of the state’s industrial revolution-era manufacturing to diverse economy. an information-driven environment, The Plan the con nued successful development of its avia on system, The Commonwealth of Massachuse s has with an emphasis on planning for the airport system as a whole. long recognized the importance of planning As part of the planning tool box, the MSASP provides MassDOT as a proac ve approach to ensuring that Aeronau cs with policies and guidelines to facilitate the system’s avia on con nues its role in the statewide long term development; shows how investments in airports provide transporta on system. As such, MassDOT returns; increases accountability in funding decisions; facilitates Aeronau cs conducted the Massachuse s decision making; and enhances eff orts to raise the level of safety at Statewide Airport System Plan (MSASP) all airports within the Commonwealth. Finally, the plan also helps in order to provide an analysis of the determine how the Massachuse s airport system should be statewide airport system of 37 public use developed to respond to future challenges and to meet changes airports (not including Logan or Hanscom). in demand in order to promote system sustainability. The MSASP produced an extensive assessment of the current system’s The planning process for the MSASP was guided by a Project condi on, as well as a guide for mee ng Management Team (PMT), chaired by MassDOT Aeronau cs, which its current and future needs. This plan was comprised of volunteer representa ves from the Federal supports MassDOT Aeronau cs by Avia on Administra on (FAA) and various other na onal and providing tools that will help facilitate local avia on leaders and stakeholder groups. 1 Plan Vision Provide an airport system that accommodates demand, supports economic and transporta on needs, and maximizes funding resources while being conscious of environmental issues. Meet Standards Mee ng applicable FAA design standards Goals In order to fulfi ll the Plan Vision, it is cri cal to understand where Environmental Compliance the airport system currently Compliance with all federal, state, and local stands as well as where it needs environmental regulatory requirements to go. To do that, there must be a structured planning mechanism that can not only defi ne the Economic Benefi t airport system, but also measure Economic impact and economic benefi ts of incremental investment in the system it. For the MSASP, the airport system goals shown to the right were iden fi ed to provide that System Preservation planning infrastructure by Facili es and services suffi cient to maintain which the current condi on the airports and address the current and of the airport system could be future needs of the avia on community ascertained, as well as a mechanism for determining Public Outreach where it needs to go, and if it has Airport promotes and supports avia on reached its ul mate des na on. educa onal programs and community outreach Transportation Integration Integra on with other modes of transporta on Massachusetts Statewide Airport System Plan 2 The Massachusetts Public Use Airport System Massachuse s is currently home to The MSASP analysis encompassed 37 of the 39 public use airports over 240 registered avia on facili es, within Massachuse s. Boston Logan Interna onal Airport and including airports, heliports, seaplane bases, Hanscom Field, both of which are owned and operated by the Mas- etc. While the vast majority of those are sachuse s Port Authority (Massport), were not included in the MSASP. solely for private use, there are 39 airports Of the 37 public use airports included in the MSASP, 25 are also public- within Massachuse s that are open for use ly-owned (such as by a municipality), while 12 are privately-owned. by the general public. Of those public use This la er component of the airport system is par cularly important airports, 28 are part of the FAA’s Na onal for the MSASP since these airports provide important accessibility and Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), services for Massachuse s, but are ineligible to receive federal grants and 25 of those are publicly owned, to support their eff orts. (It should also be noted that the acquisi on making them eligible to receive FAA Airport of Worcester Regional Airport by Massport did not occur un l well Improvement Program (AIP) funding grants. into the MSASP eff ort; as such, it has been retained in the MSASP Note that this is highly signifi cant for the analysis for purposes of coherence and usefulness.) MSASP in that AIP funding can provide up to 95% of eligible project costs. Preserving a Precious Resource Preserving the effi cient func oning of the capital improvement, and the lack of public outreach to educate neighbors Massachuse s statewide airport system about the importance of these airports and the cri cal need to preserve requires a con nual eff ort by MassDOT them. The loss of an airport is serious and very likely irreversible; it has Aeronau cs Division, the Federal Avia on a nega ve impact on the local economy and in the process weakens Administra on, nearby ci es and towns, the system of comparable airports within which it operates. local airport businesses, and the avia on The MSASP approach to addressing the preserva on of Massachuse s user community. These eff orts are public use airports is expressed in terms of the six system goals signifi cant, because the number of public men oned on the previous page and described in more detail later in use airports na onwide has declined this document. Most notably, the MSASP is designed to help defi ne the appreciably over recent decades. Reasons facility and service improvements needed to maintain the commercial for this decline include weakened local viability of the system airports and in the process, preserve the economies, encroachment from surrounding opera onal integrity of the system as a whole. land uses, lack of necessary investment for Understanding Current Conditions The study team, with the assistance of the airport facili es, business ac vi es, services, and opera ons, both PMT which included the Federal Avia on current and historical, as appropriate. All informa on collected was Administra on (FAA), conducted an cross-checked and supplemented where needed by on-site interviews intensive data collec on task, recording the and photo documenta on. Over 1,600 pilots responded to a Pilot’s input of all 37 system airport managers, Survey and over 2,100 businesses were surveyed. When added Fixed Base Operators (FBO), and MassDOT to applicable documents and data from the FAA, the resul ng Aeronau cs Division staff . Detailed 18-page datasets provided valuable insight into current issues and challenges ques onnaires were distributed to study and helped frame the rest of the study’s inves ga ons. par cipants reques ng informa on on 3 Land Use challenges between airport growth and incompa ble adjacent land use are o en heightened by the lack of clear policies Taking Stock of and planning coordina on. Massachusetts’ Current Capacity issues extend beyond individual airport needs related to Aviation Challenges terminal/hangar, airspace, and ground access, to the en re system’s capacity.