EDITOR’S NOTE: Rod Hall, chairman of the Washington Manassas Airport Commission and a former head of Legislative Affairs at the Federal Aviation Administration, submitted the commentary below. The views are the writer’s. Potomac Local has not independently confirmed every figure in the letter.
Aviation is often discussed in terms of destinations—where an aircraft is going and when it will arrive. But airports are much more than points of departure and arrival. They are economic-development engines that connect businesses to markets, attract investment, support high-quality jobs and strengthen surrounding communities.