March/April 2024 - 26

LEGAL MATTERS
AUTHOR Margaret Martin
What Is Airport Law, Anyway?
WHEN I tell other lawyers that I am an airport lawyer, almost
100% of the time the response I get is " Wow! That is such a
niche! " . What those of us in the airport world know is just
how broad and deep airport law is - this is what makes it
such an interesting field in which to work. As I told a new
attorney a few days ago, " I learn something new almost
every day " . So for this first article, I thought it would be
helpful to start at the beginning: What IS airport law? And
what do you really need to know?
I am certain that other attorneys
would have a different opinion on this,
but in my opinion, the most important
thing to know is whether or not
your airport is " federally obligated " .
Basically, has your airport, or has the
city or governing body that owns your
airport, accepted federal funds for your
airport? If so, your airport is almost
certainly federally obligated. The vast
majority of public airports are federally
obligated, and so are a few private airports.
Another source of federal obligations
is how your airport received the
land on which the airport sits. If the
land under your airport was provided
by the federal government at some
point, even back to the very first days of
flight, then this also means your airport
is federally obligated.
This first question of whether or
not your airport is federally obligated
is so important because if the answer
is yes, the airport sponsor (the entity
that accepted the federal funds or the
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MARGARET MARTIN
Margaret Martin is a Partner
at Thompson Burton,
PLLC, where she leads the
nationwide Airport Law
practice group. Margaret is
also the founder of Martin
Airport Law, LLC. Margaret
helps airports and businesses
working with airports navigate
the complexity of FAA compliance.
FAA staff, but it is available to airports
and is an invaluable resource. The
Manual summarizes almost every key
compliance obligation of a federally
obligated airport, and provides references
to the relevant grant assurance,
regulation, law, or advisory circular
for further research if that is necessary.
The following summarizes some
property under the airport or even in
some situations the airport itself) must
comply with a myriad of federal laws
and regulations governing airports.
There are no exceptions for small
airports, or general aviation airports,
or airports that don't have full-time
staff, or airports that require financial
support from a city's general fund
in order to operate: if your airport is
federally obligated, you are required
to comply with the applicable federal
laws. These laws touch almost every
aspect of managing and operating an
airport: they govern how much an
airport can receive in grant funds, and
how you should maintain your runway,
and whether you can close or sell your
airport, or hand it over to another government
agency to operate. There are
also state statutes and local ordinances
that govern airports, and each airport
sponsor should be aware of these as well.
The Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) enforces these federal obligations
through its airport compliance program.
This compliance program consists of
both formal requirements for airport
sponsors, such as the grant assurances
that accompany each federal grant, and
guidance documents such as advisory
circulars that can offer helpful clarity
to federal requirements. The FAA captures
these requirements on its website,
and provides a very useful tool called
the Airport Compliance Manual. The
Manual is written by the FAA for the
26 \ AIRPORT BUSINESS / MARCH/APRIL 2024
of the major obligations of a federally
obligated airport sponsor:
* Prohibition of exclusive rights
[Grant Assurance #23, generally,
sponsors shall not permit an exclusive
right to an aeronautical user]
* Use of airport revenue [Grant
Assurance #25, generally, revenues
generated by the or on the
airport should be used only for the
airport. This includes local taxes
on aviation fuel established after
12/30/87.]
* Compatible land use [Grant
Assurance #21, the sponsor
should ensure that land adjacent
to or in the immediate vicinity
of the airport is compatible with
airport operations. This may
require the sponsor to attempt
to secure avigation easements or
zoning restrictions on property it
does not own.]
* Availability of fair and reasonable
terms without unjust discrimination
[Grant Assurance #22, the
airport shall be available as an
airport for public use on reasonable
terms and without unjust discrimination.
The airport should
require any operator at the airport
to comply with these requirements
as well.]
* Adhering to the approved airport
layout plan [Grant Assurance #29,
airport sponsors should keep the
airport layout plan up to date at all
times, and should make land use and
business decisions that are consistent
with the airport layout plan.]
March/April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March/April 2024
