General aviation has many benefits

Your article about collegiate use of general aviation, “Flying Coach: Many universities are using private planes,” unfortunately missed a few points about the importance of these aircraft, and the airports they us.

First, many colleges are located in small towns and rural areas, and for these institutions, a general aviation airplane allows people to quickly cover distances that could take hours or days to cover with other transportation modes.

Additionally, for many academic institutions, their local aircraft and airport are needed to support aviation-education programs, and are also used to facilitate flight training and air traffic control training. The airplanes may also be used on flights from small, nearby airports in support of military, National Guard and Civil Air Patrol operations, or air- ambulance and angel flight missions.

Simply put, the value of general aviation, and of community airports, explains why universities – as well as companies of all sizes, philanthropic organizations, local and federal government agencies, and other enterprises – make use of such assets.

This story was originally published April 29, 2017 at 8:01 AM with the headline "General aviation has many benefits."