The Aviation Council of Alabama saw record attendance at its annual conference. This year’s conference was held at The Lodge at Gulf State Park from Oct. 18-20. The event welcomed 179 attendees including federal and state airport authorities, local engineers, vendors, consultants and aviation officials. Last year only saw 50 attendees at the council’s one-day event in Huntsville.
The Gulf Shores Airport Authority was the conference’s presenting sponsor. Airport Director Scott Fuller said he believes the event was a great opportunity for visitors to get away from office distractions.
“There have been a lot of no travel requirements out there and a considerable amount of Zoom meetings,” Fuller said. “You’re not on a computer screen, it’s real, and like I say, this thing just really took off at the last minute.”
The conference featured presentations centered on federal and state airport regulations, security updates and even roundtable discussions ranging from legal challenges to safety development.
Fuller said the conference featured two particularly important presentations. The first was the National Air Transportation Association’s discussion on public and private partnerships. The second was Jviation’s economic impact of airports demonstration.
NATA highlighted the importance in raising private money to fulfill airport improvements. Fuller said the state only provides airports with $2 million for capital improvements to maintain them. He said there is a lot of available funds airports could utilize through private operators and businesses.
“That is the biggest thing in Alabama is the fact that if we build a hangar, we’re gonna lease it,” Fuller said. “We’re gonna create jobs. We just don’t have enough hangars in Alabama. There’s not an empty hangar in Alabama, but there’s no funds available to build them, no public funds.”
Fuller said Jviation’s presentation also gave attendees a keen reminder of how much money really is made through airport construction and operation.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize how many jobs we create and how big aviation is in this state,” Fuller said.
What makes every year’s ACA conference special to Fuller is the networking between old and new members of the nation’s aviation industry. Fuller said the conference allows for a network of information among officials and authorities so that everyone may know the latest on federal regulations and state programs.
“Networking, you take it home, it helps you run your airport better,” Fuller said. “There’s times that we all, we’ll get calls from an airport that have an issue come up and they know an airport that’s already addressed that. I still do it after 40 years. I’m still calling other airports, ‘How did you handle this?’”
Fuller said he is thrilled to have the Gulf Shores Airport Authority host the event. The conference has not been held in Gulf Shores for 10 or more years.
