SBD Airport wins award for Good Neighbor Program

SBD International Airport (SBD) received top honors for the SBD Good Neighbor Program at the Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) marketing and communications awards held on November 7. SBD won the award for Best Overall Public Relations Program in the Small Airports Category for its efforts to engage with community members about aircraft operations and developments at the airport while also providing channels to receive their feedback.

Launched in July 2020, the SBD Good Neighbor Program is a comprehensive, proactive informational and listening forum designed to: 1) educate residents and business owners in the Inland Empire region about activity at their local airport, and 2) instruct pilots operating at SBD about neighborhood noise-sensitive areas. The noise management program has its own branding, a dedicated website, educational videos, quarterly newsletter, social media communications, media outreach, and quarterly reports and presentations to local elected officials.

“We created the SBD Good Neighbor Program as a community resource to educate our neighbors about SBD operations and developmental investments that may create airport noise, and to give them channels to learn, comment, and ask questions,” said Mark Gibbs, Director of Aviation. “The SBD team worked diligently to implement this program, despite COVID-19 obstacles, and we’re proud that our community engagement efforts are being recognized by our aviation industry peers.

“SBD committed a significant amount of time and resources to develop the noise management program because being a good neighbor in our community is a priority,” Gibbs continued.

As the home base of many partners that provide emergency and essential services to the Inland Empire and beyond — fire-fighting aircraft, sheriff helicopters, cargo airlines, and general aviation aircraft — SBD provides vital services and the Good Neighbor Program offers information, education, and communication tools to help further understanding of that function.

The SBD Good Neighbor Program explains how the airport and aircraft serve the region, how and where aircraft typically fly, preferred flight procedures for pilots, infrastructure projects’ news and information, and career opportunities that continue to help revitalize the region.