Advisory Council Profile: Gary Ness

Although the aviation industry in North Dakota faces challenges, the future is promising says Gary Ness, executive director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission.

"We've found that corporate aviation is strengthening all the time," he says.   Corporate planes allow executives to reach specific destinations on specific schedules and that's a valuable time management tool. Corporations are also moving toward larger aircraft.

"At the same time, interest in our small airports across the state is still strong," Ness says. "After some years of decline, aircraft ownership is level or perhaps growing a little bit."

He also notes that North Dakota's aviation infrastructure has made vast improvements. "From 2000 to 2005, more than $160 million has been invested in snow removal equipment, equipment buildings, new/reconstructed runways, terminals, hangers, fueling systems, general repair and maintenance and other specialty facilities. The U.S. Congress increased the FAA Airport Improvement Program to support those improvements and we've taken advantage of them whenever we can."

The state does face some aviation challenges.

"As our smaller communities gray, maintaining air service for medical facilities as well as for businesses in those communities will be a challenge," he says. Many regional medical facilities are now flying doctors to outlying clinics to provide specialty services. Businesses are relying on air service for just-in-time delivery of parts and personnel. "It will be important to keep our general aviation facilities fit for those kinds of services," he says.

Ness notes that as of this spring when Delta airlines begins providing service from Fargo to Salt Lake City, there will be service from North Dakota to four major airline hubs: Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City. "I can leave from Bismarck in the morning and be in Washington, D.C., before noon," Ness notes. "Maintaining that kind of service will continue to be a challenge. We work with airport managers and others to provide the data and analysis to maintain that level of service."

Ness has served on the UGPTI advisory council since he became executive director of the Aeronautics Commission in 1986. By law, the executive director serves on the Institute's advisory council. The mission of the commission is to promote, enhance and regulate aviation for the state.

"As big as the aeronautics industry is, it doesn't always get the exposure and consideration it should," Ness notes. "I took it seriously that all modes of transportation have to be at the table. The Transportation Institute, to be whole, has to cover all the modes."

Ness complimented the UGPTI on its work in the aviation industry. He cited several studies including research that examined the relationship between fixed-base operators and economic development, work to identify and describe the state's network of helipads, a regional airfare study, and an effort to measure the economic impact of aviation in North Dakota.

Whether it was his father's aerial crop spraying business, his own time in the cockpit in that business, or his time as an aviator in the U.S. Navy, aviation became second nature to Ness. "I basically grew up on an airport and on my uncle's farm," he says. He continues to hold a commercial multi-engine and instrument pilot certificate.

He participated in the family business for eight years before spending four years as a naval aviator. After leaving the Navy, he was assistant manager of the Federal Land Bank in Grand Forks and was later vice president of First Federal Savings and Loan. From 1980 to 1986 he was sales manager for AGSCO, a regional agricultural chemical company headquartered in Grand Forks. He was hired by the Aeronautics Commission in 1986.

"It's a great job and I've had a great time since I started," he says. He relates how one morning he met with local officials at the Underwood airport which consisted of a hanger and a grass strip. The strip was threatened by a nearby mine and discussions focused on how to move/replace the airport. "72 hours later, I was in Presidential Chief-of-Staff John Sununu's office in the White House, Washington, D.C., discussing the importance of commercial essential airline service to the central rural United States. This job is that varied and that's what I love about it."

He is past chair of the National Association of State Aviation Officials and recently served as president and chairman of the board of the Center for Aviation Research and Education, a non-profit educational foundation created to serve the needs of aviation research and education. Ness is the chairman of the North Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame.

He currently resides south of Bismarck with his wife Linda.   His daughter Erin and husband Jason Ehlert live in West Fargo and daughter Lindsey is a senior at Jamestown College.