Our Current Situation

First and foremost I must take this opportunity to apologize for not posting for around two weeks. Time has simply slipped away and Uncle Sam did ask my attention be elsewhere for a short period, so on that, sorry for having not kept up. Now to get on with it.

There are several things that drift in the realms of my mind this evening not the least of which is our curiously plummeting if ever turbulent economy that seems perpetually stuck in a nose dive and shows very little signs of returning to any form of "normal". Nor escapes my attention the direct and most profound effect these slow times are having not only on our day to day lives but the world of Aviation in general.

I sit in the Line Shack at LAL tonight surrounded by the deafening of silence that has enveloped this airfield so completely that the rare occasion that an aircraft propelled by anything other than a jet engine (which is becoming just as rare) flies overhead, that beautiful purr of piston engine isn't heralded by all as the returning days of glory that saw hundreds of passing props a day, but is treated instead almost as a nuisance, just another flight student to be tolerated, in and out, possibly lost and very little fuel needed.

Gone are the days of a full ramp buzzing and teaming with metallic and canvas Avian life, each crafted machine yearning for the air of the sky rather than the black of the asphalt. Gone are the days of full house at airport restaurants. Gone are the days of Airport Restaurants! No more do I see a full traffic pattern with pilots stacked two to three deep searching for the perfect hundred dollar burger. Between ownership cost, rental costs, fuel costs, and creepily invading ramp fees, the taste for slipping the surly bonds has vanished from the fine glow and sweet tones of freedom and accomplishment and instead has been deviously replaced by the bitter aftertaste of outrageous fuel costs and lack of reason to arrive. Why spend the time effort and exuberant amount of money to fly to a place that offers nothing but a thieves grasp of your wallet complete with a side of hunger unvanquished?

Flying, in all of its glory and love, when broken down is, at its core, a luxury. And as is the case with any given luxury, subject to severance or neglect when other more pressing issues such as House, Home, Family, Mortgage, the ability to eat, come in first. The majority of GA is for pleasure and is in fact the very reason that most pilots even learn in the first place as flying stimulates emotions and thoughts that most people will never be able to experience in their lives. Addicting as it is however, more pressing issues as mentioned, become much more relevant when bills can't be paid, obligations can not be met and as in the case of may many Americans, mortgages become impossible. This is where we have evidently found our precipice and have teetered ever so dangerously on the edge of for far to long. The credit crunch has finally caught up and firmly bit us all on the ass.

Watching the stock markets tumble the last several days and the air traffic continue to grow markedly thinner, no more apparent are these two correlated as is evident on the very ground that is so important to aircraft, the unsung hero that is the Airport. Where in the past airports across the country have been threatened by community encroachment, re-purposing of land, complaints from existing neighborhoods and the characteristic distrust that the general public has for small aircraft, now I fear that no longer are these threats the most damaging and significant to local fields but instead the realization that an even larger and uglier problem may be looming on the horizon should the economy fail to resurrect itself, the issue of neglect.

As it stands, the FBO I work for is currently one of two business entities that still operate in the terminal building. The remainder is stagnantly empty and even now, shows signs of neglect creeping in. Look past the bright blue roof and white stainless walls. Look instead to the vast amount of empty space that hollows out the cavernous interior. Look at the old Day Jet post with its now abandoned computer screens and pastel blue back wall. See the empty pilot lounge. Stroll the flight line and observe the wide tie down area, barren of long term home based wings. Listen and feel the stoic silence swell with the Florida temperature yet lingers in the calm afternoons, unyielding. Ask yourself "Where is everyone?" Visit other GA airports. Ask yourself the same question.

I normally don't like writing on such a down note but lately as the world turns we all seem to be holding our breath, waiting for those we once thought voted as our representatives to lead us from such crises to actually get up and DO SOMETHING other than systematically and thoroughly covering their own asses and retreats. Even despite the attempts at"Bailing Out" the economy with a ridiculous seven hundred billion dollar gamble, selective bank rescues and a whole lot of bacon, the public still remains leery and is slowly realizing that instead of fixing the problem, those who represent us may have just created an even larger one whose effects will remain for some time and that even more infuriating, it wasn't really a bailout at all. Instead just a last ditch effort at grabbing as much as one can before the domino falls, laughing all the way to the offshore accounts and letting Joe Average take the massive burden. Generations may suffer such ill conceived trite for years to come. Where then will aviation be?

I have seen first hand the effects of Neglect on airfields both paved and grass. The end result is eerily the same, dead stale air followed by grass climbing through cracks, mother nature reclaiming that which was lent. There is light at the ends of these tunnels however, economies do spring back even during the darkest of times when the bleakest seems to the be the inevitable, industries do come back. Markets do rebuild. I have no doubt in my mind that airports will become thriving places of commerce again. Commerce simply must catch back up and provide the need that turns blade and jet fans alike. Then we shall see a more vibrant sky, and hear the purr of engines unleashed. Until then though, those stalwart sentinels whom know no other love than that of flight will still be here, waiting. Hanger bums and ramp rats alike. Ever vigilant to keep and maintain that without which would be akin to life without oxygen. Simply not possible. So carry on cronies of the political world, and keep panicking those of the financial markets. We'll be here, ready when you come back to your senses and and back to reality.

'Be waiting at the Airport.

KW