Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 3

28 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 local schools – career days, airport tours, and museum tours – anything to get young people interested not just in flying planes, but in the whole industry, from mechanics to control tower operators. The goal is to provide an environment that creates excitement and opportunities for the next generation of aviation enthusiast. “It really is about having world-class businesses on the field,” Barth explains. “I can’t say this enough. To be successful you must find the best people and work with them. That means finding people who also want to do their best and invest in the airports future. For the last number of years, we have been really focused on making sure we bring those types of businesses here to work with us. Many of the businesses here are expanding, even in the wake of the pandemic and soaring fuel prices – they are finding a way to make things work and work well.” One of the things Barth is interested in seeing is the expansion of the electric market. He notes, “There are exciting developments in what can be done with electric aircraft, and I would love to see some of that work on the next generation being done at Meacham International. Again, we need to work on setting the table for this, but we are doing it. In fact, that is something we made sure will be considered in our master planning efforts. We want to be able to facilitate the change that is coming, and hopefully bring some of those players to our airport.” PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n American Aero FTW www.americanaero.com