Latest News

The Board of Directors are pleased to announce that the new Bylaws were approved by the majority of the Executive Membership on February 1, 2023, following the 14-day online voting opportunity. We appreciate everyone that took the time to participate in the development and passing of these new Bylaws.

These new Bylaws will set the foundation for TAC to be the leading advocate for General Aviation in the State of Texas. The expansion of the Board to include the Corporate and Associate representation will bring additional perspectives to the Board that will enhance our outreach and advocacy efforts. Please take a moment to review our organizational documents at Texas Airports Council - Guiding Documents.

We are excited about the direction TAC is headed and we invite you to become a member so that we can assist you in your airport's success. It is also time for the Nominating Committee to get the ballots prepared for our election of the FY23/24 Board Members. If you are interested in assisting at this level, please reach out to Lenny Lerena, Chairman, at vllerena@vctx.org.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the Texas Aviation Conference on April 12-14, 2023, at Moody Gardens Hotel.

TAC Board of Directors

The TAC Board would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. We look forward to the continued growth and support of TAC and we are excited about what the future holds. As such, we are proposing a revision to the organizational Bylaws to more reflect our new direction. The proposed Bylaws have been updated to address our ability to advocate on legislative issues, more align with similar AAAE type state organizations, and to expand the number of Board members.

We are asking that our all our members take a look at the following documents and provide any feedback you believe is warranted before the Board asks for a formal Executive Member vote in accordance with the current Bylaws. Each member should have received an email with links to the document to be reviewed.

We will be accepting comments until January 17, 2023. After that, the Board will consider any comments and suggestions received. Final draft documents will then be sent to the Executive Members for a formal vote.

Thank you for your time and continued support of TAC! 

Scott T. Gray, C.M., C.A.E
Vice President
Texas Airports Council

MESSAGE FOR TXDOT

The FY2023-2025 ACIP, approved by the Texas Transportation Commission, is now posted on our website. At that same link is a supplemental document that goes into detail about many items that you need to know about. Your planner will be emailing you again about this document – we cannot stress this information enough. The information contained in this document is vitally important to everything we do. It is not a perfect document and it is neither final nor complete but it is the beginning. It is a living document that will be updated as we work through some procedural and process changes within the Aviation Division.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jim Halley at James.Halley@txdot.gov or 512-416-4525. .

During the TAC General Membership Meeting at the TxDOT Aviation Conference on August 5, 2021, the Airport Executive members approved the slate of officers and board members. Due to the impacts of COVID on everyone's personal and professional lives, nearly all officers and board members will remain in place for an additional one or two year term. This was to build on the progress made before the near shut down of all meeting, conferences, and in-person interactions. The Board would like to thank Haley Cuevas for her time as Treasurer and welcome Joel Jenkinson as the new Treasurer and Trent Ballard as the new At-Large Executive Board member. Please visit the About - Officers and Board Members page for more details.

TxDOT announced the appointment of Daniel “Dan” Harmon as the new Aviation Division Director, effective December 2, 2019.

In his new role, Dan will oversee planning and funding for the nearly 300 reliever and general aviation airports throughout the state. He will work closely with the aviation community and TxDOT’s Aviation Advisory Committee to ensure safe and continuous improvement of Texas’ airport system.  Dan will also oversee operations of Flight Services and the maintenance of state-owned aircraft; as well as the department’s UAS operations.

Dan has been with the department since August 2013, during which time he has served as Maritime Division (MRD) Director.  Under Dan’s leadership, MRD completed a comprehensive feasibility study with the US Army Corps of Engineers for the replacement of the Brazos River Floodgates and Colorado River Locks, managed three legislatively funded programs totaling $100M in connectivity projects, and worked with the federal Maritime Administration to designate the Texas portion of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway as “Marine Highway 69.”

Prior to joining TxDOT, he served as the Director of Facilities for the Texas Department of Public Safety.   As a U.S. Navy veteran, Dan served on active duty for over 22 years as a maritime patrol and reconnaissance pilot flying the P-3 Orion.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas and a master’s degree in business administration from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, where he graduated with honors.  He also graduated from the U.S. Navy Aviation Safety School and holds certifications in financial management, test and evaluation, and program management from the Department of Defense.  Dan has been a military instructor and standardization pilot, and holds an FAA Airline Transport Pilot rating.

Dan and his wife, Donna, have two adult children.

Please take the time to congratulating Dan on his new position.

During the September 20th Board of Directors meeting, the Board approved the acquisition of the American Association of Airport Executives Airport News and Training Network (ANTN) as a new membership enhancement.  As part of all TAC memberships, members will now have the ability to use the ANTN system to enhance their training through on-demand videos.

The Board is excited to provide this new feature to our members. The addition of ANTN will augment our continued efforts in providing regional Airport 101s. The Board is continuing to look for additional enhancement for our members.

Two Texas Senate Bills, SB 1964 and SB 2050, were filed on March 7, 2019 and relate to aviation taxes and creates an aviation development account. Details of each Bill is provided in the links below.

• SB 1964 (Zaffirini) - related to the use of certain aviation and air transportation-related tax proceeds for aviation facilities development in an aviation development.
• SB 2050 (Schwertner) - related to the creation of the aviation development account.

Texas Airports Council is please to announce our new website. This new website includes many new members features, including online payments, event registrations, and membership profiles.

Please take some time to look around the website,but first you will need to get a member access password by following the following steps:

1. Click on the Login link at the top right of the home page
2. Click on Forgot password
3. Enter your email provided at membership and enter the security code
4. You will be emailed a link to setup a your password
5. Visit the home page and log in with your email and new password
   

Once logged in you will be on your Profile Page. Please take the time to update your membership information to ensure everything is up-to-date.