CONGRESS INITIATES 'STEALTH' EFFORT TO CLOSE RIALTO AIRPORT

There’s an under-the-radar attempt in Congress to close the Rialto, California, airport. But it hasn’t escaped AOPA’s attention. The bill was slipped in as a “stealth amendment” to the federal highway funding bill, now being negotiated in a House-Senate conference committee. The provision reportedly allows the airport to be sold to developers for less than half of its fair market value. “This is outrageous and an abuse of public funds invested in the nation’s air transportation system,” said AOPA President Phil Boyer. “We turned to aviation leaders in Congress to defeat this attempt at closing an important Southern California reliever airport.” AOPA is lobbying the conferees to block the bill. At least two of the conferees, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), have expressed strong opposition. See AOPA Online.