The Military Airport Program

Throughout U.S. aviation history, military aviation has shared numerous links to civil aviation. This report summarizes some of that shared history, and briefly describes significant legislation from the early 1900’s through modern day issues. Furthermore, it specifically addresses the origin and development of the Military Airport Program, one of five designated set-aside funds under the Airport Improvement Program. Legislatively established in fiscal year 1991, the intent of the program was to take advantage of the numerous existing facilities at military bases identified for realignment or closure under Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), and to convert them to civil or joint-use fields for minimal cost. As such, these airfields could then relieve more congested metropolitan airfields nearby, reduce projected departure and arrival delays, and significantly contribute to the overall capacity of the United States’ air transportation system. Administered by the Federal Aviation Administration, the program was harshly criticized in a General Accounting Office report in 1994. Since then, the FAA has taken numerous steps, acting upon the GAO’s recommendations, to clarify and further define eligibility criteria for candidate airfields. This report will detail the GAO’s investigation, conclusions, and recommendations, and compare them to the current state of the program. The author will also provide the reader with examples of the conversion process at work by briefly looking at each of the airports currently in the Military Airport Program.

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