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January 2009
AirTAP Forum highlights conflict resolution
About 80 people from general aviation airports and community government across Minnesota attended the fifth annual Airport Technical Assistance Program (AirTAP) Fall Forum, held October 15 and 16 at Breezy Point, Minn. Mindy Carlson, CTS AirTAP program coordinator, gave the welcoming comments.
In his opening remarks, Gary Workman, director of Mn/DOT’s Office of Aeronautics, said a critical role of the forum was to bring aviation experts together to learn from one another. “There aren’t really a lot of new, revolutionary solutions to our problems, but a lot of individuals have figured out ways to solve them,” he said.
Gary Workman
Jeff Hamiel
In 2008, Mn/DOT awarded an additional $6 million above its normal grant amount to Minnesota’s airports, Workman reported, but 2009 will be more challenging, as the state airport fund lost $15 million that was transferred to the state’s general fund to help balance the budget.
Harold Van Leeuwen, chair of the Minnesota Council of Airports, urged attendees to advocate for their airports in the face of other competing interests. He said the average person doesn’t see the true value of the airport and the local businesses it supports—for example, UPS. “Use every tool you’ve got to maintain and preserve your airport and to maintain the safety and viability of the system,” he said.
Jeff Hamiel, executive director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (and a member of the CTS Executive Committee), returned to the forum to lead a discussion about public management issues related to aviation around the state of Minnesota. He noted that in the current challenging economic times, communities might question why their airport is necessary and contemplate selling it to the city for redevelopment.
“We have a responsibility to the community, to ourselves, and to our airport… to do the best we can,” he said. “We can’t close airports. If we do, there’s a significant negative impact on our community— the community doesn’t realize what it will lose.” Although municipal airports are not for-profit enterprises, they must still be run efficiently so as to be financially viable, he said. In addition, airport operators must comply with numerous government rules and regulations—which are ultimately what keep the airport safe.
Mike Hughes
Mike Hughes, the opening plenary session speaker, offered suggestions to help airport operators negotiate and solve problems related to running their airports. Hughes is the director of the Center for Science and Public Policy at the Keystone Center in Keystone, Colorado, a nonprofit organization that mediates conflicts among public, private, and civic organizations.
When trying to solve a problem, people often get stuck because they focus on positions rather than interests, Hughes said. A position is a fixed outcome— “something you’ve decided is the necessary answer to a problem,” he explained. An interest is the underlying need—the motivation for a position.
“Often where we go wrong in negotiation is we jump to the end,” Hughes said.
In this bottom-line thinking, if one party wins, then the other must lose. With interestbased thinking, he explained, the negotiating parties develop a mutual understanding of each other’s needs, concerns, and goals and work together to build solutions that satisfy as many of those needs as possible.
Attendees broke into small groups to discuss airport issues.
To encourage cooperative problem solving, Hughes suggested all parties focus on underlying interests, work toward outcomes where everyone gains, and communicate to defuse conflict early.
The first day’s luncheon featured Mike Magni, president of Monoco Air. About three years ago, Monaco Air took over as the fixed-base operator (FBO) at Duluth International Airport. Among the services it provides are fuel sales, aircraft maintenance, and catering. In addition, since Duluth airport is located on the great circle route between Europe and the western United States, Magni said the FBO is working to attract more international flights on “tech stops” —stops during which flights refuel and send passengers through U.S. customs. Monaco Air touts a turnaround time of 30 minutes or less. “Once that aircraft lands, it’s like a NASCAR pit stop,” he said. “The whole intent is to get them on their way as quickly as possible.” This focus on high-level customer service throughout the FBO is how Monaco Air hopes to differentiate itself from its competitors, Magni added.
In a session held at Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport, Paul Sichko, assistant director for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport maintenance and airside operations, Tony Myhra of Cryotech Deicing Technology, and Rick Braunig of Mn/DOT's Office of Aeronautics led a session on airport snow and ice removal. Other forum topics included hiring airport consultants, airport funding, emergency preparedness, agricultural spraying, and working with an airport commission. [A complete list of sessions and several presentations are available on the AirTAP Web site at www.airtap.umn.edu.]
The forum was sponsored by Minnesota AirTAP (housed within CTS) and the Mn/DOT Office of Aeronautics, in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Minnesota Council of Airports.
More coverage of the forum will be published on the AirTAP Web site and in a special issue of Briefings, the program’s quarterly newsletter, in early 2009.