D Kirk Shaffer, PLLC

10/29/2024

Read this, folks.

A note from our owner.

03/14/2023

Fast forward to about Minute 17:30, Item #3 on the agenda, Tennessee House Bill 1176. You might see someone familiar.

Live and Recorded Public meetings of Government Operations Committee for Tennessee State Legislature

03/14/2023

When you eliminate the checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches of government in the appointment process for those charged with running substantial governmental entities, you’re undermining the foundations on which American governance was built.

When you take the next step and eliminate all due process in the removal of eminently qualified experts charged with running a business-based entity essential to the public good and a large sector of the economy, indeed authorize removal without cause, there’s no other conclusion than that you’re transparently changing that high-performing entity into nothing more than a political football.

When you’re given repeated opportunities yet can’t name one thing the high-performing entity ever did except in an exemplary manner yet you forge ahead to dramatically lessen local control over the entity, your motives are obvious and you’re headed down the path to conflict, instability, and loss of focus, while wasting lots of time, effort, and money.

A key House panel continued to advance a bill giving the governor and House and Senate speakers appointment power over the Nashville airport board.

04/26/2018

Our East Hampton saga continues. It has been my privilege for some years now to serve as an expert witness in federal court to NBAA, Helicopter Association International, and several aviation operators at East Hampton in successfully challenging illegal noise and access restrictions imposed at HTO. In my judgment, there is only one reading of the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990, which is that any US airport owner which wants to impose noise and access restrictions on its airport must petition the FAA pursuant to Title 14 CFR Part 161. Any airport means any airport, not just airports obligated to the US government pursuant to federal grant assurances, not just airports that have accepted federal funding within X number of years.

Having been correctly advised of the law in writing by their own learned aviation counsel, the Town of East Hampton nonetheless forged ahead to impose the most far-reaching airport noise and access restrictions within memory, even to the extent of adding days to the definition of "weekend" for the purpose of quiet operations. The leadership of the Town repeatedly assured their residents that the pursuit of the restrictions "won't cost you a dime," meaning that their legal and consulting bills would be paid for with airport revenue and not with the taxes paid by the citizens.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously ruled against the Town of East Hampton and struck down the restrictions across the board. No exceptions. The US Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari. Case closed.

During these years of litigation, the Town of East Hampton spent over THREE MILLION DOLLARS pursuing these restrictions, knowing from the beginning that they were illegal in the opinion of their own counsel. And the Town's leadership continued to tell folks that it "won't cost you a dime."

Now, the FAA's Airport Director of Compliance has entered a Determination pursuant to Title 14 CFR Part 16 finding that the Town of East Hampton, having paid these millions with revenue generated by the airport, does not have to reimburse their airport account. In other words, revenue generated on the airport from airport users through fuel sales, hangar rentals, the provision of aviation goods and services, and otherwise, can be used to pursue illegal noise and access restrictions (restrictions which were known to the Town to be illegal from the start) rather than using those airport revenues, as required by federal law, to support, maintain, improve, operate, and expand the airport.

NBAA and its co-complainants are absolutely correct to challenge the Director's Determination. With all due respect to my friend Kevin Willis, the FAA Airport Director of Compliance, who did tons of important, valuable work for me and the Airports Organization when I was the FAA Associate Administrator for Airports, the Determination is wrong. It's wrong on the law. It's wrong on existing FAA Part 16 precedent. It's wrong on airports policy.

The taxpayers of the Town of East Hampton should prepare to have a $3 million bill hit their general fund.

Washington, DC, April 25, 2018 – The town of East Hampton, NY cannot divert airport revenue to pay for legal fees stemming from its unsuccessful effort to impose access restrictions at East Hampton Airport (HTO), the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) stated today in an appeal to the F....

03/08/2017

The Town of East Hampton has filed its Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in the US Supreme Court in its latest attempt to illegally impose aircraft noise and capacity restrictions on this important part of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. It is my privilege to be an expert witness in this case in behalf of several aircraft owners and operators and aviation trade associations.

03/01/2017

First the disclaimer. I do not know Oscar Munoz, the CEO of United Airlines, but after reading this interview, I certainly would like to. I have done very substantial work for United over the years and am always happy to represent that great airline.

That said, read this interview with Munoz. The word "leader" does not appear anywhere in it, but the article is an outstanding tutorial on one of the fundamentals of leadership: communication. And Oscar Munoz's leadership comes through line after line.

In order to lead, you have to know your people. You have to spend time with them. You have to know their value to the organization. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are their dreams and fears? Where would they like to see the organization go if they got to make the call? How did they come to the company in the first place? What's their background? Where are they from? What was their childhood like? How about their spouse and family? What do they like to do with their spare time? Where would they like to be in 5 or 10 years? What's their dream job? Where are we making mistakes? What opportunities are we missing? What should I be doing that I'm not doing now? What am I doing now that I need to stop doing?

In order to know your people, you have to communicate, especially the listening part. If you're running your own mouth, you're not learning anything, but if you show genuine one-on-one interest in your teammates, you will discover everything you need to know to lead the organization to a higher level of performance. You will discover, as the old saying goes, that people truly are your greatest asset, and once you've communicated to them by word and deed that you're actually listening to them, that you are invested in their future right along side the future of the organization, that you have a clearly communicated vision of success in which they play an integral part, and that you are really only the CEO in order to serve them and provide them with all the tools and opportunities necessary for them to excel, then you will be their leader and they will do more, perform better, rise higher than you ever imagined possible.

AP United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz.

12/14/2016

Glad to see the folks in the Compliance Division of the FAA Airports Organization maintaining the same proactive posture I established when I was the FAA Associate Administrator for Airports.

Washington, DC, Dec. 13, 2016 – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) welcomed action by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this week to halt attempts by the city of Santa Monica, CA, to evict two long-standing fixed base operators (FBOs) at its airport, as the agency investigates...

12/14/2016

While this is a corporate page, I do make exceptions from time to time for the Boy Scouts of America. After all, it's my page.

Put aside your politics for a minute and pay attention please. Read this to understand, not to react.

My son Jackson and I were privileged to be in the audience at Michigan State University in the summer of 2015 during the Scouting speech referred to in this article. I will never forget Secretary Designate Tillerson's words, as he was echoing my upbringing and the upbringing Dana and I have tried to provide for Leslie and Jackson.

Speaking to a gathering of 5,000 Eagle Scouts, Tillerson, himself a Distinguished Eagle Scout, said: “People trust you. They count on you. Your personal integrity, once established and earned, people don’t have to think about it. They know. They know you. They know you’ll do the right thing every time.”

That's the bottom line of life in my book. Your personal integrity is the one and only thing over which any of us has absolute, final control. No exceptions.

Or as my Father was known to say, "Boy, you'll go to hell for lyin' as fast as you will for stealin'." and "A man's word is his bond." My Father was neither a highly educated man nor an Eagle Scout, but he knew what really mattered. As I sat there in 2015 listening to Tillerson, I could hear my Father's voice as clear as a bell, echoing throughout every year of my life.

Gordon Lee Shaffer and Rex Tillerson are both right.

Rex Tillerson, a Distinguished Eagle Scout and past national president of the BSA, has been nominated to be the nation's next secretary of state.

12/02/2016

Safety in the air and on the ground is the FAA's highest priority every minute of every day. But to publish this article with multiple pictures of air traffic controllers could give the false impression that airfield safety is primarily their responsibility. It's not.

Safety is the responsibility of every aviation stakeholder in equal shares. One tiny mistake, one lapse in vigilance by a pilot, a ground vehicle driver, a ground guide, an airport maintenance worker, an airline or airport operations worker, an airport concessionaire or supplier, or any of the many other folks on and around our airports can have disastrous consequences in an instant.

That fact is certainly not to diminish the stellar performance of our air traffic controllers and the critical role they play in insuring the safety of the traveling public. Indeed, as this article correctly points out, the number of errors made by air traffic controllers has long been so tiny that a statistician will tell you that it is almost beyond our ability to measure.

But we can never relax or stop trying to do better to improve safety. Thus, the peaks and valleys in runway incursions detailed here is a matter of great concern. It tells us, once again, that there can never be too much emphasis, too much training, too much forward thinking about safety. In order for safety to truly be Number One, we all have to work at it every single day, regardless of all the other important matters competing for time and resources, and never let distractions creep in.

Here's an example. During my tenure as Associate Administrator for Airports, the industry was able to reduce runway incursions by vehicles and pedestrians by over 16 percent in one year. We did it through the expedited deployment of Enhanced Taxiway Centerline Markings paid for through the AIP Program, a cheap, quick visual aid involving nothing more than paint to warn pilots and drivers of their proximity to airfield intersections.

Yet, as I constantly traveled throughout the system, I lost count of the number of airports where the director or the operations deputy would say, "Really? I haven't heard about that." That's when the tour of the terminal or the new fuel farm or the new consolidated rental car center would stop and the safety talk would begin. I'm not sure how we could have publicized the centerline markings more, but the point is that each and every one of us must be focused on safety at all times.

Safety is everyone's business every minute of every day. People's lives are depending on it.

Hazardous runway incidents at U.S. airports in fiscal 2016 increased for the third year in a row, significantly exceeding federal safety targets over five months and climbing 25% overall from the previous year.

11/30/2016

Congratulations to Secretary Designate Elaine Chao on her selection to run the US Department of Transportation in the Trump Administration. Secretary Chao brings aboard a deep understanding of the challenges facing our transportation systems, along with a record of public service which is unmatched. Her selection also demonstrates the wisdom of President Elect Trump in surrounding himself with subject matter experts who have lengthy records of success and getting the job done.

11/26/2016

Read the entire Part 16 Complaint filed on behalf of AVE, LLC against Miami-Dade County, Florida; its Mayor Carlos Giminez; the Miami-Dade Aviation Department; and its Director Emilio Gonzalez.