In Flight USA October 2021

Page 14

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In Flight USA Celebrating 38 Years

An Interview with Trade Winds Owner Walt Gyger

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By Annamarie Buonocore

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ddressing the issue of impending airport closures is always a difficult one for the staff at In Flight USA. With housing shortages in high-traffic parts of the country and property values increasing, general aviation airports are under threat of closure and face misconceptions from the public. These closures or threats of closures can be stressful for pilots, business owners, employees, and aviation enthusiasts. Thanks to advocacy groups such as AOPA, local airport and pilot communities are fighting back against the big interests and making clear the important reasons why GA airports should continue to thrive. One airport that is under threat of closure is San Jose’s Reid-Hillview, a familiar site for many pilots throughout the country. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors wants the airport to close by 2031 and has stopped accepting federal funding for the airport. They look forward to building a new housing development or two, ridding the city of a reliever airport for the congestion at San Jose International Airport. Those in the aviation community know how important it is for ReidHillview to continue to thrive. The airport provides a hub during emergencies such as wildfires and earthquakes, is home to San Jose State University’s aviation department, and is home to local businesses that employ workers in Santa Clara County. Trade Winds is the main FBO at Reid-Hillview, and its owner, Walt Gyger, often speaks out on behalf of the airport community and the other businesses there. He has been battling misconceptions for the past several years all while running a busy FBO operation. At this year’s most recent ReidHillview Airport Day, In Flight USA had the opportunity to interview Gyger and learn more about what is happening and what is being done to fight back. We also learned more about his business and how much it contributes to the local general aviation community. During this interview, we learned some ways that the local public could take action to prevent the closure of this important site for GA. In Flight USA: Tell me about Trade Winds? How old is the business and how long have you been at Reid-Hillview? Walt Gyger: Trade Winds goes back to 1988. We started at San Jose

(Courtesy Trade Winds Aviation)

International. Around 1998, San Jose International decided that they were going to redevelop the area where we were. They suggested we move over to Reid-Hillview. We took their suggestion. At first, we lost a lot of customers because newcomers just weren’t finding us anymore. This airport was not well known at that time, as it was not near a major freeway like International. We had to kind of redevelop our business to be successful here in the late ‘90s. The ‘90s and 2000s were a time of great building and success here at Reid-Hillview. IF USA: What services do you offer besides flight training? WG: We are mainly a Cessna-affiliated flight school, but we also do maintenance of our own airplanes and other people’s airplanes. We are also an aircraft dealership, and we buy and sell airplanes. The goal is to make some pilots happy by helping them to own their own airplanes. IF USA: I understand that the airport is under threat of closure. Tell me how that negatively impacts you and the local community here. WG: There are two sides to that story. The first side is that the people who want to close the airport, promise the community what they will eventually have in the airport’s place. I am not quite sure what they would do with the land that would benefit the community around here. IF USA: They say they want to build apartments. WG: Yes, but how will that benefit the community? Building more apartments is going to lead to a lot more traffic and congestion. The people who already live here should feel fortunate that there is an airport here because the traffic is less than what it could be. These roads are already congested, and building more apartments here will lead to more water and electricity usage as well as more stress on sanitation systems. The other big problem with closing ReidHillview is that it serves as a reliever airport for San Jose International. We don’t want the smaller planes going to San Jose International because it complicates traffic for the bigger planes and affects their building plans. The city of San Jose is in Continued on Page 16


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