![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Smith-Matt-edit.jpg\")
\u201cThe biggest challenge could be working through some\nlegislative issues,\u201d said Smith. \u201cSome legislators want to cut into sources of\nrevenue that feed the State Aviation Fund. The State Aviation Fund is paid for\nby airport users, not by general taxpayers, so it is about as fair as one could\nhope for in a government setting,\u201d said Smith. \u201cUsers pay for what they use.\u201d This\nisn\u2019t the first time that this issue has come up and Smith recognizes that there\nis work to do helping these legislators understand the positive impact the Fund\nhas on the State, and the negative impact of reducing the Fund. \u201cMix this\nweakening of the State Aviation Fund with the current rate of inflation and the\nimminent recession, and we have a recipe for hurting the whole state aviation\nsystem,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith says that the biggest opportunity for AZAA is through\nthe membership. \u201cWe have started a mentoring program that pairs up and coming\nairport staff with more experienced managers in long-term relationships. We\nalso have a “wingman” program at our conferences that pairs\nfirst-time attendees with regular attendees for the night to help the new\nperson meet everyone and have a good time.\u201d According to Smith, the opportunity\nfor members, new and old, to grow and develop and to help bring the best out of\neach other is phenomenal. \u201cNever underestimate the power of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the director of the Grand Canyon National Park Airport\n(GCN), owned and operated by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT),\nSmith understands how a reduction in revenue can impact airports. \u201cHaving\nworked in the ADOT Aeronautics office and having been deep in the effort to\nrecover the State Aviation Fund after the last sweep, I understand the Fund and\nthe Aeronautics programs extremely well,\u201d noted Smith. \u201cWorking at GCN has been\ninvaluable.\u201d Smith said he learned a\ngreat deal working in the Aeronautics office, but it wasn’t until he had his own\nairport, did he gain a new perspective on how decisions made at that level either\nhelped or hurt airports and the state system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AzAA has long been considered one of the best run and\nstrongest airport associations in the country. Smith attributes that to two\nthings. \u201cFirst, we like each other–we’re friends,\u201d said Smith. It may seem\nsilly to some people, but Smith believes members of AZAA really enjoy spending\ntime with each other. \u201cEach conference is like a class reunion or something. I\nspeak for myself here, but I live for our conferences. There’s nothing like\nmeeting everyone face to face and catching up with each other. Members love\neach other and the organization, and it shows.\u201d Second, Smith says they found a\ngreat association management firm that keeps them a \u201cwell-oiled machine\u201d on the\nbusiness side. \u201cThey have been a true partner and they are a real part of the\nAZAA family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After serving at ADOT Aeronautics Group for several years,\nSmith was promoted to Airport Manager at the Grand Canyon National Park Airport\nin 2018. He says he is a totally self-motivated person, who likes to win, not\nsit on his duff. And what does winning look like? To Smith, it means reviving\nthe capital improvement program. \u201cWe used to give away our FAA entitlement\nalmost every year,\u201d said Smith. \u201cNext fiscal year I will exhaust my\nentitlements and start dipping into discretionary. I am going to reconstruct my\nrunway, and in the following years reconstruct the parallel and connecting\ntaxiways followed by reconstructing the apron.\u201d Smith says he is also working\non a total remodel and expansion of the terminal in hopes of getting a BIL\ngrant to do construction. \u201cThese are projects that are usually once in a\nlifetime opportunities for an airport manager,\u201d said Smith. \u201cIt also means\ntrying to make the airport profitable for the first time in decades.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his spare time Smith volunteers with the U.S. Coast Guard\nAuxiliary. He was most recently the Division Commander for Arizona. Matt\u2019s\nprimary interests at work are capital improvements and hosting barbecue luncheons\nfor employees and guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith tells the State Aviation Journal that ADOT has been\nvery supportive, both of his AzAA involvement and of the airport itself. \u201cIt’s\nbeen great.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As with any membership organization, the year ahead for the Arizona Airports Association (AzAA), promises to bring both challenges and opportunities. Matthew Smith, AzAA\u2019s new President, says the organization is well positioned and equipped to deal with both. \u201cThe biggest challenge could be working through some legislative issues,\u201d said Smith. \u201cSome legislators want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arizona"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22619"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22622,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22619\/revisions\/22622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}