The Falcon Field Airport Authority has decided to radically increase airport ground lease rates and drastically reduce ground lease terms from 20 years to a mere five years.
A review of the airport finances shows a cash position in excess of $1,500,000 and 2018 receipts on track this year to produce $400,000 in excess of expenses. Why does the Airport Authority feel compelled to drastically increase the fees we pay?
I have been searching for this answer but no one has provided me with concrete reasoning. In the quest to find answers, others and I have met with most of the Airport Authority members. Some Authority members see the problem with the new lease terms and others feel it is just the authority getting the best deal they feel they can.
In my mind the “best deal we can“ approach by a government-funded monopoly that holds all the cards is an issue. None of the Authority members are aircraft owners or hangar owners. To use an old saying, “They have no skin in the game.“
Going forward I would like to see the Authority have at least one or two members that are aircraft owners and/or hangar owners. The hangar owners at Falcon Field Airport have been instrumental in helping to get this facility to the stature it is today. We have at times funded infrastructure costs out of our own pockets when the airport was unable.
The airport is only offering a five-year lease renewal; we need at least a 20-year lease. These hangars are major investments for many of the owners and a five-year lease greatly devalues the hangars. When trying to sell a hangar, a new buyer would have a problem financing a hangar with only a five-year lease. A five-year lease discourages improvements and proper upkeep of the properties. At the last authority meeting, two new hangar builders were given 30-year leases.
The new lease has a ground rental rate of $0.53 per square foot. The lease rate at the Coweta county airport is $0.30 per square foot.
The new lease states that in addition to the ground lease payment, lessees are required to pay the airport 10 percent of all revenue received. If I rent hangar space to other aircraft, I am required charge at least 75 percent of what the airport charges in their large hangar.
The 75 percent charge requirement is based on the Airport Authority belief that individual hangar owners are competing with them for tenants even though they have no hangar space available and a waiting list of over 30 people.
We want this to be the best airport it can be and remain financially stable.
What is the solution?
1. Freeze the lease renewal process until we can work through the issues that are separating us.
2. Assemble a workshop where the interested parties can work through the issues and recommend solutions.
Tommy Turner
Hangar D-27
Fayetteville, Ga.
