First—to follow up on last week’s Blog—Tri-Cities Regional Airport has indeed made the decision to go to an airport authority system.
Second—and totally unconnected with the first item—this area of East Tennessee is a microcosm of the country. Towns north and south of here are putting up strong fights to keep the United States Postal Service (USPS) facilities open and operating in their area. I won’t bore you with the details, but believe me when I say they are fighting.
Bear in mind that these people—like pretty much everybody else in the country—do want the guvmint to cut spending. Still, they are fighting like hell to make sure the cuts are not made IMBY—in my back yard.
As I understand it, the guvmint wants money cut from the USPS budget. One way they plan to do that is by cutting facilities around the country. Presumably, the USPS decided which facilities they can best do without, and proposed that they be closed. Locals, however, can, and do, explain in great detail why the USPS is wrong,
We see this same scenario play out when our military branches need to cut the budget. They decide which bases should be cut, then the locals put up a fight of disagreement.
This seems to happen no matter what cuts are proposed by the guvmint. It surely will happen in aviation. I am arguing neither for nor against any particular facility or service. I am just pointing out that—as the old saying goes—you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs. It’s kinda hard to justify fussing at the guvmint for spending too much at the same time you fuss with them for cutting costs.
On the other hand, some argue that the decision for each closing should be able to stand up against local arguments. They say that leads to better decisions.
It’s tough, but perhaps it should be.
