Wednesday, January 21, 2004
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Wednesday, January 21, 2004 |
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To run FBO or not is the question for Airport Authority By MICHAEL BOYLAN For the second time in as many months, a company came before the Peachtree City Airport Authority at their monthly meeting and expressed an interest in buying the Hunting Facility and running the Fixed Base Operation, which is currently run by the airport. Representatives from Chippewa Aerospace gave a presentation at Wednesday night’s meeting that had members of the audience excited and had members of the authority preaching caution and patience. The Hunting Facility, located at Falcon Field and previously used by a company called Stevens, has been vacant for five years. The space of the property is very appealing to other aviation companies because of its size and proximity to the airport. The facility offers a large amount of hangar space and Chippewa would use that space to do avionic modifications and installs. Some of their clients would be what is considered regional jets, which prompted authority member Matt Davis to wonder if the type of traffic Chippewa would bring in, is the type of traffic Falcon Field wants. Davis and other members of the authority feel that they need to have what Davis called a “come to Jesus” meeting, discussing the philosophy of the airport and what they want to become. While authority chairman Cathy Nelmes stated that the Authority would be happy to have Chippewa at the airport, they were unsure if they wanted to give up the operation of the FBO. Representatives from Chippewa said that not running the FBO wasn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, but it did make Falcon Field a little less attractive. Stevens, the former tenant of the Hunting Facility, is one of the main reasons for the authority’s hesitancy to privatize the operation of the FBO. The service and prices that Stevens provided did not attract customers and it took the airport several years to establish an solid reputation. Chippewa representatives assured the authority that their taking over the FBO would be good for everyone involved. They only want to provide fuel and all other responsibilities of the FBO would remain with the airport. They also stated that after looking at the airport’s numbers, the airport would have a significant amount of money, enough to cover their overhead. Authority members will seek a consultant to look at both sides of numbers to make sure this is correct. Chippewa also stated that by moving from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Peachtree City and expanding, they would bring a lot of jobs to the community. Also at Wednesday’s meeting was a representative of the Hunting Facility. He stated that Hunting is getting out of the aviation business, is more favorable to sell the property this year and that the facility will be sold, not leased. Hunting has been dealing with Chippewa for several months and feels that their offer is one of the more serious offers in the past several years. The Hunting Facility is expected to sell for four million dollars. The authority will hold a workshop at some point in the next two weeks and will decide just what type of airport they will become and whether or not they want to be in the FBO business. Nelmes stated that she would be favorable to privatizing the FBO operation if the airport could be sure of quality service, cover their overhead and make money. Chippewa understood the need for the authority to ask those questions and have them answered. By the authority’s February meeting, they should be closer to a decision on whether to be in the FBO business.
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