Saving the Future of the Reid-Hillview Airport
An Interview with Trade Winds Owner Walt Gyger
By Annamarie Buonocore
Addressing the issue of impending airport closures is always a difficult one for the staff at In Flight USA. With housing shortages in high-traffic parts of the country and property values increasing, general aviation airports are under threat of closure and face misconceptions from the public. These closures or threats of closures can be stressful for pilots, business owners, employees, and aviation enthusiasts. Thanks to advocacy groups such as AOPA, local airport and pilot communities are fighting back against the big interests and making clear the important reasons why GA airports should continue to thrive.
One airport that is under threat of closure is San Jose’s Reid-Hillview, a familiar site for many pilots throughout the country. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors wants the airport to close by 2031 and has stopped accepting federal funding for the airport. They look forward to building a new housing development or two, ridding the city of a reliever airport for the congestion at San Jose International Airport.
Those in the aviation community know how important it is for Reid-Hillview to continue to thrive. The airport provides a hub during emergencies such as wildfires and earthquakes, is home to San Jose State University’s aviation department, and is home to local businesses that employ workers in Santa Clara County.
Trade Winds is the main FBO at Reid-Hillview, and its owner, Walt Gyger, often speaks out on behalf of the airport community and the other businesses there. He has been battling misconceptions for the past several years all while running a busy FBO operation.
At this year’s most recent Reid-Hillview Airport Day, In Flight USA had the opportunity to interview Gyger and learn more about what is happening and what is being done to fight back. We also learned more about his business and how much it contributes to the local general aviation community. During this interview, we learned some ways that the local public could take action to prevent the closure of this important site for GA.
IFU: Tell me about Trade Winds? How old is the business and how long have you been at Reid-Hillview?
WG: Trade Winds goes back to 1988. We started at San Jose International. Around 1998, San Jose International decided that they were going to redevelop the area where we were. They suggested we move over to Reid-Hillview. We took their suggestion. At first, we lost a lot of customers because newcomers just weren’t finding us anymore. This airport was not well known at that time, as it was not near a major freeway like International. We had to kind of redevelop our business to be successful here in the late ‘90s. The ‘90s and 2000s were a time of great building and success here at Reid-Hillview.
IFU: What services do you offer besides flight training?
WG: We are mainly a Cessna-affiliated flight school, but we also do maintenance of our own airplanes and other people’s airplanes. We are also an aircraft dealership, and we buy and sell airplanes. The goal is to make some pilots happy by helping them to own their own airplanes.
IFU: I understand that the airport is under threat of closure. Tell me how that negatively impacts you and the local community here.
WG: There are two sides to that story. The first side is that the people who want to close the airport, promise the community what they will eventually have in the airport’s place. I am not quite sure what they would do with the land that would benefit the community around here.
IFU: They say they want to build apartments.
WG: Yes, but how will that benefit the community? Building more apartments is going to lead to a lot more traffic and congestion. The people who already live here should feel fortunate that there is an airport here because the traffic is less than what it could be. These roads are already congested, and building more apartments here will lead to more water and electricity usage as well as more stress on sanitation systems. The other big problem with closing Reid-Hillview is that it serves as a reliever airport for San Jose International. We don’t want the smaller planes going to San Jose International because it complicates traffic for the bigger planes and affects their building plans. The city of San Jose is in the process of building up San Jose International Airport. If the county closes down this airport, they will have to find a home for all 600-plus aircraft that call Reid-Hillview home, and that place cannot be San Jose International.
IFU: They keep suggesting that Reid-Hillview merge with San Martin Airport, which is down the highway. Why wouldn’t that work?
WG: For one, San Martin is just too far away. Also, the infrastructure at San Martin is very small and likely would not be able to handle the traffic and operations that we have here at Reid-Hillview. The county would have to invest in improving the runways, infrastructure, and buildings at San Martin. They refused to do that, and the airport association at San Martin does not want to add any more traffic. It is a noise-sensitive community that is agricultural in nature. They are supporting us to not close this airport.
IFU: What are some other important reasons why the airport should continue to thrive?
WG: One of the major tenants here at Reid-Hillview is San Jose State University. SJSU has a very successful aviation program. This program helps young adults to become airline pilots. They train them all the way through. As you know, the industry needs more airline pilots. Every year, pilots retire, and they’re not coming back. In the flight school business, it is not uncommon to lose CFIs to the airlines. Becoming an instructor is actually a common way to build up hours to get a job with the airlines. Now that the industry is getting back on its feet after the pandemic, we need more supply all the way around. SJSU’s program is considerably more affordable than say Embry-Riddle or some other private universities. This is a program for kids in the neighborhood here. It is a great opportunity for them to find a good paying job. There are also many youth programs such as the Young Eagles and Civil Air Patrol that can serve kids in this neighborhood.
IFU: That’s an excellent point.
WG: To elaborate more on the future of this airport, this place can become a transportation hub. With more business jets coming into the area, this can be a center where planes can get passengers to their places of business in Silicon Valley. But nobody wants to invest in such an endeavor when the airport is under threat of closure. So what the supervisors have been doing very successfully is downplaying the importance of the airport. This makes it hard to invest in your business when you don’t know what the next several years will hold. We keep trying to paint a picture for the supervisors of what the airport could be in the new era of transportation. With more electric aircraft coming into the picture, there is a lot that can be done here. It is unfortunate that they don’t share the vision.
IFU: I heard the big announcement from GAMI at Oshkosh about the unleaded fuel. You are one of the first GA airports to implement that. How has that been going for you?
WG: It does not change the way we do things all that much. We switched to UL 94 (94 unleaded). That does not make a difference. There are a lot more airports in the Midwest who have already made the switch. This is because they are closer to Swift Fuels, which is based in Indiana. There are some logistical issues getting that fuel to California. California is a lot stricter on trucking and transportation. If you bring a fuel truck from Indiana to California, you have to make sure that you are within California laws as far as fuel emissions go. We plan to stabilize this transportation with rail tankers. There is also a trucking company in Fremont that can bring us the fuel. Many of the airports around here, including Palo Alto and Watsonville, are working on bringing unleaded fuel to their airports.
IFU: What action items do you have for airport supporters? What can we do to save the airport?
WG: I think we need a lot more people to demonstrate to the supervisors about their own experiences with the airport. They need to convey to them what they envision for the airport’s future. We have been doing this for years now, and we need more people to step up.
IFU: Is there anything else you would like for people to know?
WG: Yes, we are not going to give up.
IFU: I recently read that the San Jose Fire Department denied that Reid-Hillview was a critical spot for emergency operations. Can you clear that up?
WG: Last year when we had wildfires, Cal Fire had a number of helicopters here that were used to fight those fires. Many people don’t see a need for this airport and do not care what happens to it. The opponents deliberately play down the importance of the airport in particular situations. We have the DART, which is the Disaster Airlift Response Team. That is a statewide organization that airlifts disaster victims to safety. They fly to areas that would not be easy to access otherwise.
IFU: Thank you!
After this interview, Gyger added that the EAA Young Eagles program is very active at Reid-Hillview. At last year’s Airport Day, several hundred neighborhood students signed up to take a Young Eagles Flight. This year’s Airport Day was on Aug. 28, 2021. Close to a thousand people attended, many of them youth. A local band played while food trucks spread across the airfield. While the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors cites Reid-Hillview as a threat to racial equality, it should be noted that many of the attendees were people of color. Do your part to help save Reid-Hillview and the many services it provides to the public and local flying community. For more information, visit savereidhillview.org where you can volunteer, donate, or take action to deliver your message to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
