It's Class D airspace, so hopefully the tower can keep folks in line at/around the airport, though it may be a harder day's work than they're used to.
Pretty airport BTW, http://www.airnav.com/airport/SUN
Posted on 07/02/2005 5:06:05 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The Gulfstreams and Learjets carrying the top brass of the media world into the mountain resort of Sun Valley for an annual business retreat won't be getting the white-glove treatment.
Like ordinary small planes heading in and out of the small airport on some of its busiest days, corporate jets will have to wait in line to use the one runway surrounded by 8,000-foot-high mountains.
The Federal Aviation Administration has decided to scrap restrictions that would have thinned out the number of planes traveling through Friedman Memorial Airport on Tuesday, the retreat's opening day, and July 10, the day after it ends.
"We felt this would be discriminating against a class of pilots, which is against FAA regulations," said Kathleen Roy, spokeswoman for the association.
Now in its 23rd year, the gathering of the world's business elite to play bridge, golf, ride horses and haggle over multimillion-dollar deals regularly attracts such luminaries as Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch.
But the 405,000-member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said the restrictions were intended to accommodate "bigwigs" who "don't appreciate much delay or inconvenience."
The limits would have restricted the airport during peak hours to pilots authorized to fly using only instruments, rather than by visual navigation. Visual navigation is commonly used by small plane pilots.
Airport manager Rick Baird is furious. He's expecting 600 to 800 takeoffs and landings because the retreat's opening day is also the peak day for departures after the Fourth of July holiday.
"It doesn't take a mathematician to understand we could be overwhelmed," Baird said. "The FAA had supported us in attempting to close to small fliers for a period of time so that we have control over what happens."
Baird said the pilots' group made "self-serving, condescending and inaccurate" claims about the flight restrictions - and is responding not to a legion of Cessna and Piper pilots, but to a handful of charter pilots who were fearful they wouldn't be able to ferry clients to Sun Valley on short notice.
"This isn't about the little guy, it's about the guy who's hired to fly someone from Las Vegas to Sun Valley on short notice and who wanted to make sure he still got a paycheck," Baird said.
The FAA is now requiring all pilots planning to use the Sun Valley airport on Tuesday or July 10 to go online and reserve a takeoff or landing time slot from the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Herndon, Va.
Gee, sounds like another little guy to me...
In other words the the liberal media is causing more "global warming" in one weekend that 100,000 of us will cause in a lifetime.
Irony here?
It's Class D airspace, so hopefully the tower can keep folks in line at/around the airport, though it may be a harder day's work than they're used to.
Pretty airport BTW, http://www.airnav.com/airport/SUN
Missed that it was the airport manager that was ticked off. I'll take back what I said about "hopefully the tower can keep folks in line" in my last post. I hope this SOB is up all night wondering where planes can park, which limo is Oprah's, and otherwise picking all of the red M&Ms out of Celebrity X's complementary bucket.
Sounds like he wanted to us the FAA to arrange it so that the celebs could have the airport to themselves. At the same time, he's calling charter pilots 'well-to-do'. Wonder if there was anything in it for him....
AWWWWWWWWW!
"Do you know who I am?" bump.
The fewer the slots made available, however, the more likely that professional pilots (viz. charter, corporate) will get those slots.
An airport manager's wishes don't necessarily correlate to the FAA mandates or historical experience, that is, safety guidelines.
From scant information in the article, it sounds to me as if the FAA is serving the public interest here. (Whoodathunkit?)
HF
Sounds like a heliport business opportunity to me.
Good point!
That little gem caught my eye too.
Bump!
""This isn't about the little guy, it's about the guy who's hired to fly someone from Las Vegas to Sun Valley on short notice and who wanted to make sure he still got a paycheck," Baird said. "
Another commerical snob who thinks private pilots should take a back seat to commercial tickets. We meet a few of these from time to time. This guy should be fired and banned by the FAA from running an airport for advocating the violation of FAA rules and regulations.
Everybody takes their turn in the aircraft world. I remember flying into Dulles airport in a Piper, with a huge 747 waiting on the taxi-way for me to get down and off the runway before it could take off.
Hah! Had a similar situation here in Daytona a few days ago. Had a Delta Commuter with three other multi-engines behind him, waiting for my 172 to land. Nickel holding up a dollar. Had to smile.
THANKS. :D
My response to that is always "Yes, you're an a$$hole."
Now that is the appropriate response!!
The controllers are all for it, and the line pilots are usually grateful.
Corporate and charter pilots are usually good guys, and 90% plus of the time, their pax are, too. Just cause they have money (the pax, the drivers are distinctly middle class) doesn't mean they're bad people. They're not usually even Democrats, if they actually earned the money; only if they inherited it or got it in some kind of windfall or shady deal and feel guilty about it.
On the other hand airport managers/board members/FBO owners have a very high percentage of weirdos among them.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
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