This document presents the results of two GAO web-based surveys of airports. One survey was to airports that received grants under the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Small Community Air Service Development Program. The purpose of this was to examine (1) how passenger traffic and air service have changed at the nation’s small community airports, (2) how DOT has implemented the Small Community Air Service Development Program, and (3) what strategies have been used and what results have been obtained by the grants provided under the Small Community Air Service Development Program. We sent this survey to the airport directors involved in the 116 grants DOT awarded from 2002 through 2004. We also surveyed the airport directors involved in the 6 grants DOT awarded in 2004 with funds reallocated from 2002 and 2003. Finally, we surveyed airport directors involved in three grants DOT offered in 2002 and 2003, but the communities declined. Ultimately, we directed the survey to the 146 airport directors or managers who were knowledgeable about the grant the airport received. We received 121 completed surveys for a response rate of 83 percent.

The second survey was sent to airports that applied for but did not receive grants under the DOT Small Community Air Service Development Program. The purpose of this survey was also to examine (1) how passenger traffic and air service have changed at the nation’s small community airports, (2) how DOT has implemented the Small Community Air Service Development Program, and (3) what strategies have been used and what results have been obtained by the grants provided under the Small Community Air Service Development Program. We sent surveys to the 116 airports. We directed the survey to the airport directors or managers who were knowledgeable about the grant proposal. We received 83 completed surveys for a response rate of 72 percent.

A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology is contained in our report entitled "Commercial Aviation: Initial Small Community Air Service Development Projects Have Achieved Mixed Results" GAO-06-21. We conducted our survey work between March and May 2005 in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards.

Instructions for Viewing this Survey

How to View The Surveys

• Click on the Table of Contents link located in the lower right of this screen. To read to the bottom of the screen, you may need to use your scroll bar on the right side of this screen.
• The first screen in the survey is an introduction and general information that was sent to and viewed by recipients of the survey. There are no survey results to view on this screen. This screen is for information only and you may by-pass it by clicking on Next located at the bottom of the screen in the lower right.
• The survey may have links to allow respondents to bypass inapplicable questions (skip patterns). While these were active links during the data collection period, they have now been disabled.
• When a respondent wrote a narrative response to a question, we sometimes present the percent of respondents making a comment.

How to View the Responses for Each Question

• To view the responses to each question, click on the question number (Links to survey questions will look like this: 1., etc.).
• After viewing the responses to each question, click on the "x" in the upper right corner of your screen to close that window and return to the questionnaire.

How to Return to a Page That You Previously Visited

• To return to the last screen you viewed, click the Previous button on the lower right corner of the screen.
• Click the Next button to advance to the next screen.

How to Make the Font Larger on Your Screen

• You can make the font larger by changing your browser setting. For example, on Internet Explorer you can change the font size by going to View and selecting Text Size.