W P Dixon wrote:
Maybe I look at it strangely?
When you pay to park your car in a parking lot is it on private
property?
I never know. It is being managed and presumably atleast leased by a
private operator. Go to a federal or state building and you park in a
pay parking lot.
When you pay to park your plane is it on private property? My
take on it is, if it is being (car or plane) parked on public property
funded by taxpayers it has already been paid for.
I feel that way about using the ATC system and operating in and out of
public airports. But every ramp I see (and want to park on) is
privately operated. I don't think it makes any difference who *owns*
it, the question is who *operates* it. That is, who puts the chains
out, chocks at night as required, provides security, who is liable?
Heck I hate toll roads! Now if a private company wants to build a
road and charge a toll , fine. When tax dollars pay for the construction
it just really gets my goat. I don't mind some sort of tax, but I hate
being "double" taxed . I just do not see taxes funding airports and then
the airport turning around charging someone a landing fee or what have
you , when the Federal tax dollar supports the airport. If the airport
wants to charge for it's use, then it needs to be a private airport and
not publicly funded. IMHO, a 2 buck charge at a funded airport is 2
bucks to much .
It's pretty obvious that roads *have* to be a public entity. It's a
regional and national interest and private ownership just won't work
(who would build the interstates? Or the PA turnpike? Major airports,
to a lesser extent, need to be public too. Otherwise they would all be
closed or closing. NIMBY applies, squared!
Is it just me or does anyone else feel they are being ripped off when
airports do this? Seems to me they could do more biz by not having
landing and parking fees. More pilots would stop there and use their
services wouldn't they?
No, I don't think so. If that were the case, someone would be running a
Walmart FBO chain and cleaning up. Who cleans up in the FBO business?
Who cleans up in the small piston FBO business. Let's see, "if I just
didn't have to pay $12 bucks to park overnight (with no fuel) I'd fly 20
more hours a year". I don't think so.
I think the fees just add to the slow death of
GA in an area.
Myself, I fly to get somewhere and land where I'm closest to my
destination. I pay the fees with a smile when asked. I appreciate each
and every airport I land at mainly because they are there. Good
services are even better. I rarely end up paying a government entity
directly though I'm sure taxes are collected from those private
operators operating on public land. The few airports where the local
gov actually operates the airport, things seem to get strange... but
that's ok too.

I don't like the idea of ATC user fees. I don't like state run
lotteries. But I like successful FBOs and usually end up 'ripping them
off' (burp) rather than feeling ripped off.