General aviation should be poised to enjoy a Golden Age. Exciting new technologies are appearing almost every day. And with airline travel becoming less convenient and more humiliating, business travelers are turning to general aviation as never before. As a result airplane sales are up and the general aviation business is booming.But general aviation's financial takeoff could be aborted by a shortage of places to actually take off, because general aviation airports all around our country are under attack as never before. This disturbing trend threatens to ground the bright future of improved personal transportation offered by very light jets and technically advanced aircraft. And it also threatens your ability as a general aviation pilot to fly freely and safely.Pilots often fancy themselves as free-spirited individualists who are above the petty concerns of politics. But the truth is that we have one of the most government-regulated hobbies or professions that exists in this country. On the federal level our ability to become and remain a pilot is subject to constant monitoring dictated by volumes of rules and regulations. And the facilities that we fly from are all either municipally owned and controlled or, in the few cases where they are privately owned, subject to the land-use whims of local governments.Most pilots recognize the problem at the federal level -- that is why we join and support organizations such as AOPA and EAA to represent our interests with the FAA and other federal agencies. But few pilots seem to be aware of the impact that the policies of local governments have on their flying.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/features/anti-airport-activism