When University officials announced the airport's closure April 30, Chris Hudson, regional director of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, contacted the N.C. General Assembly for help in keeping the facility open.
Hudson and association president Phil Boyer met with House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, last week.
At the meeting, Boyer proposed that the airport should stay open for at least another five years.
He also promised to help secure federal funding to alleviate the airport's financial woes and allow for necessary safety improvements.
And a lack of funding is exactly the force that is reportedly closing the University-owned airport.
Chancellor James Moeser cited financial strain on the University and a lack of resources to make safety improvements as the main reasons for shutting down the airport.
Although Horace Williams Airport was formerly home to Chapel Hill Flying Club, a community organization that provides flying lessons, the club was ousted last year after a series of three accidents in two years. Moeser has denied that the airport's closing has anything to do with the accidents.
But Boyer said keeping the airport open will benefit the future of the surrounding area, which will be developed as "Carolina North," a campus scheduled to include office and classroom buildings, as well as technological facilities. The mixed-use complex would occupy 575 acres of the 979-acre Horace Williams tract owned by UNC.
According to AOPA's Web site, Black has agreed to discuss the airport's closing with several University trustees.
