Bah Hum Bug lad
You are wrong.
Many of the flights conducted by NAC were for locals who had saved hard to buy friends and relatives an exciting present, an hours glimpse into the wonders of flight. Many of those who went on to get their PPLs from low paid employment, did so by making considerable sacrifices elsewhere, e.g. not going on exotic holidays to fantasy islands.
Why is fulfilling that dream so unacceptable by comparison with the dream of flying off to Prague or Barcelona at a realistic price?
These things are all about relative values, the overall quality of life and the ability to choose how one enhances one's life. To reduce life to an accountant's balance sheet is surely to stifle the joys of life for many.
Without dreamers like the Wright brothers and the aviators from the proud history of NAC both military and civil, Parkin and his mob would not have an industry to make their living from, and boy do they make a good living from bean-counting!!
As has previously been pointed out, it is false accounting to try and treat a PA28 training flight and a 737 with 120 PAX in the same way. Their requirements from the airport are quite different, but in many ways complimentary.
It is true that flight training will never provide the sort of income that the retail outlets and possibly the low cost carriers do for the airport. But what is the point of destroying an institution and a minority sport if there is no tangible gain. NAC activities almost never impeded commercial operations.
If all airports in the UK took the same attitude as NIA and got rid of the flying schools and ATCs then the industry would ultimately implode because of a lack of aircrew. Sadly the policy seems to be, we will let someone else do the training and effectively gain a subsidised industry from others. Eventually there will be no others doing the training.
Finally it is quite true that Parkin was indeed asked on several occasions to attend functions at the club and present the wings, a task which Trevor Went undertook on numerous occasions during his tenure as CEO of the airport. It is also true that Parkin declined to accept any invitations.
By contrast, Trevor Went was indeed a gentleman and had the best interests of aviation in general at heart, more than that he presided over a happy working environment at NIA where a corp d'esprit existed between both employees and tenants on the field. He will be remembered with affection. Sadly the present regime will get very rich, but will certainly not be missed by anyone in the aviation community of the North East.