The manager of a private airport in Texas says the FAA was out of line when it cancelled all eight IFR approaches to his field as of Feb. 8, cutting traffic by one-third. Woody Lesikar, of West Houston Airport, about 13 miles west of Houston, said local FAA officials allowed him inadequate time to address their concerns and refused his request for a 90-day extension. The FAA gave him one month to cut down trees to meet obstacle-height restrictions, Lesikar said, but those trees are on private property. "I can't go on private property and start cutting down trees," said Lesikar. Bill Shumann, an FAA spokesman in Washington, D.C., told AVweb that Lesikar was first told to cut the trees in April 2001. "We have been working with Mr. Lesikar for years with the trees at both ends of the runway," Shumann said. The action is not a result of any recent revisions in FAA policy, he added, just part of the FAA's ongoing flight safety program. West Houston Airport is home to 300 aircraft, and Lesikar said some of the pilots are upset and ready to take the FAA to court. "We don't have any fractional jets or turboprops [operating here] anymore," he said.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/leadnews/faa-action-spurs-debate