Tip O’Neill, a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was right about politics being local in nature. Voters care most about issues that affect their daily lives right where they live, rather than state and national matters.

Would/should this principle also apply to airports? It absolutely should! But it appears that control over some airports has been at play recently.

In July, Austin Straubel Airport (GRB) in Green Bay, WI, moved from a county-managed structure to having a private management company oversee operations, planning and development. Brown County, the airport owner, initiated discussions about the change behind closed doors while the public and staff were unaware of what was taking place. While most airport employees will remain at GRB, the new five-year contract included the dismissal of three airport leaders: the airport director, assistant director and communications director.

A related news item involves a new Tennessee law that hands the state power to make airport board appointments to the state. Essentially, the law dissolved local governing bodies and granted state leaders majority control over major metropolitan and regional airport boards in Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga and Knoxville.

This is just what we don’t need. In Tennessee, the airport authorities and boards provide local talent and experience to do what’s best for their own airports. And they’ve demonstrated vision and competence over the years. Having one state board for all of the state’s major airports is cheating locals of their voice.

And, as a famous airport saying has it, “When you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport.”

Paul Bowers, Publisher