Akron Mayor - "Airport is an Asset"

Jim_CAK

Jim_CAK

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Messages
566
Location
Akron, Ohio
Display Name
Display name:
Jim_CAK
icon1.gif
Akron Mayor - "The airport is an asset"
It is kind of refreshing to read an article that the local politicians view the G/A airport as an asset instead of trying to shut it down.

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/no-pl...-says-1.681242

This is the same airport where the Hawker crashed last fall. In the aftermath of the accident there were some people in the news questioning the need for the airport.

http://forums.aopa.org/showthread.ph...ghlight=Hawker
 
Actually I believe that most civic leaders see their local airport as an asset. It is just the ones that don't understand that fact that make the news (especially aviation news) when they talk about shutting an airport down.
 
It's amazing the attitudes even when they seem them as assets. I was based at OKV. The airport regularly dumps all over the single engine crowd based there. As far as they are concerned, they built that airport to accomodate the bizjet crowd for local business. Sometimes they get some, and more often than not the place is a desolate wasteland.

CJR built the airport to wave the resource in front of people who want to move business to the county. However, the county has a differernt view. They know that the non-business crowd, the recreational pilot, the CAF and CAP guys, etc... are "keeping the airport alive" while they wait for the business to come. It's not unprofitable and it gets the traffic counts up to justify more support from the FAA (why we've had three IAPs added since I've been there) etc... Hangar rents are cheap for the area and fuel is lower than most places (not the cheapest). My only gripe is they haven't yet put in 24 hour fuel, but I got a survey on that recently so it looks like that may be in the works.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Actually I believe that most civic leaders see their local airport as an asset. It is just the ones that don't understand that fact that make the news (especially aviation news) when they talk about shutting an airport down.
Click to expand...

Well, it depends. Quite a fair number look at the "highest and best use" of the land in making the determination. If you can cram 500 homes on the land (or a few office buildings) and gain substantial property taxes, the attitude changes. And when the land can be sold to raise cash AND increase the tax rolls, it's a double win for the powers that be. In a more urban setting (with larger commercial airports nearby), most businesses will be satisfied and there's little added by having the airport there. In more rural areas, it's a much different view.

flyingron said:
It's amazing the attitudes even when they seem them as assets. I was based at OKV. The airport regularly dumps all over the single engine crowd based there. As far as they are concerned, they built that airport to accomodate the bizjet crowd for local business. Sometimes they get some, and more often than not the place is a desolate wasteland.
Click to expand...

Last I saw, OKV was either operating at a loss or making so little money for the city that it was on the hot seat. Too bad, too, because OKV really is a nice airport, complete with full ILS, long runway, new-ish terminal, and self-serve fuel. The VOR is long gone. Part of the reason for focus on the bizjets is the perception that they bring more fees & fuel sales.

CJR built the airport to wave the resource in front of people who want to move business to the county. However, the county has a differernt view. They know that the non-business crowd, the recreational pilot, the CAF and CAP guys, etc... are "keeping the airport alive" while they wait for the business to come. It's not unprofitable and it gets the traffic counts up to justify more support from the FAA (why we've had three IAPs added since I've been there) etc... Hangar rents are cheap for the area and fuel is lower than most places (not the cheapest). My only gripe is they haven't yet put in 24 hour fuel, but I got a survey on that recently so it looks like that may be in the works.
Click to expand...

CJR's a nice field, too. But I think they'll be waiting a while for business to come.

Saw that HEF is not renewing the contract with T-Hangars of Virginia and taking over many of the T-hangars at the field. I suspect that this is to push their plans along for redevelopment of the west side of the field. Wonder how much longer Dulles Aviation will be around....
 
Actually, business has come to Culpeper County and the outlook is good. They even had a Turbine overhaul business running for a while both on the field and in the nearby industrial buildings but that has moved on. CJR is building three new rows of T hangars that are almost finished and has plans for more. The County operates them themselves and the price is HALF what you could get up the road at HEF.
 
flyingron said:
Actually, business has come to Culpeper County and the outlook is good. They even had a Turbine overhaul business running for a while both on the field and in the nearby industrial buildings but that has moved on. CJR is building three new rows of T hangars that are almost finished and has plans for more. The County operates them themselves and the price is HALF what you could get up the road at HEF.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear business is coming. It's a bit far out - and most larger businesses want to be within an hour of a commercial airport. Warrenton is growing nicely.

Depending on where you live, that's a good deal on the hangars. But it's twice as far (time wise) from my house to CJR than it is to HEF. What does personal property tax look like on planes at CJR?
 
Better than Frederick County was. I'm thinking I'm paying about $90/yr on a $42K valuation. The deal maker for me was hangars were available at CJR and they weren't at HEF. Further, the guy who runs the maintenance shop is another Navion guy (his father helped me find mine).
 
Your speaking of airports close to Washington, D.C. where there's lots and lots of government money. Not to mention much higher disposable income. That's why most major corporations and defense contractors have offices around there. All these airports get state and federal funds of some type. If not, most would be closed. That goes for Akron also.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
Your speaking of airports close to Washington, D.C. where there's lots and lots of government money. Not to mention much higher disposable income. That's why most major corporations and defense contractors have offices around there. All these airports get state and federal funds of some type. If not, most would be closed. That goes for Akron also.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. My experience is that Virginia is quite GA-airport friendly, even when you're not near DC. In contrast, GA airports in Pennsylvania generally don't even have road signs to indicate their existence.
 
Sorry Jimmy, but Culpeper, Frederick, and Faquier aren't exactly inside the beltway (niether is HEF, but I'll concede it's closer).
The industry in these places is *NOT* government related. OKV has things like the US operation for Dornier. CJR has Continental Tire and Merrilat, etc...

There's no more FEDERAL funds going into these airports than any other in the country. Virginia does do a bit of funding as well, but such is not uncommon in any states. Hell you'd have no freaking roads if it weren't for state or federal funding so I'm not sure what your point is.
 
flyingron said:
Sorry Jimmy, but Culpeper, Frederick, and Faquier aren't exactly inside the beltway (niether is HEF, but I'll concede it's closer).
The industry in these places is *NOT* government related. OKV has things like the US operation for Dornier. CJR has Continental Tire and Merrilat, etc...

There's no more FEDERAL funds going into these airports than any other in the country. Virginia does do a bit of funding as well, but such is not uncommon in any states. Hell you'd have no freaking roads if it weren't for state or federal funding so I'm not sure what your point is.
Click to expand...
Sorry back to you. Fredrick, for instance , is a bedroom for people working in washington. Same for much of the other outlying towns. I've driven and flown in this area for years. As for federal funds. It's where the states get funding. All maryland airports get state funding , much of which comes from the Feds. Easy to research. Martin state,for instance, which used to be owned by Glenn l. Martin company is now a state airport which also flys c-130s which gets fed money as well as state .GA would be in the toilet if it were not for the taxpayers. That's my point.....got it?
 
Yes, but it sounds like you were maligning the DC area airports for this. It's hardly got unique to the area. Just because we have a lot of residents employed by the federal government or their related businesses doesn't make the feds a player in the local airport. While DC is the epicenter, you'll find much of West Virginia and Colorado live by the FEDERAL contract much more so than Frederick, Fauquier, or Culpeper Counties in Virginia. At least Frederick County MD has a military base there.

Anyway, there's not a SINGLE transportation mode in this entire country that doesn't rely heavily on FEDERAL and local subsidies and that includes GA all over the country as well as the airlines, anything travelling by road, shipping, and good gracious don't even start about Federal intervention to the benefit of the railroads who enjoy an incredible
 
"Federal intervention to the benefit of the railroads who enjoy an incredible"

Tell me more.
 
Norman said:
Typical federal government failure.
Click to expand...

I'm curious. What would success look like? No passenger service at all or prohibitive expense?

Be careful what you attack. Air subsidies are a LOT larger, even if you restrict it to just air traffic services. User fees?
 
The failure of Amtrak is totally due to congress and underfunding. Other advanced country's have excellent railroads, faster and more refined. This country decided to listen to the trucking industry ( strong reps. In washington) and people like engine charlie at G.M. and let the railroads go to hell.cheapest way to mover anything is metal to metal. Taxpayers not only helped start the airlines, they have bailed them out several times. Also funded the railroads which gave rise to a lot of graft and corruption years later . On and on.( the area surrounding Washington, D.C. has a lot more disposable income than other areas like west va. ! tenn. Western ny state, etc. Which means more business for the smaller airports. ) many many of the better airports today were built by the "govmint" during ww2 and sold to the county or state after the war for pennies on the dollar.
 
Last edited:
I partially agree Jimmy. Congress has done Amtrak no favors but a huge factor is the lack of competent management. Amtrak president is a political plum job and until they get a capable president who knows railroading the woes will continue.
 
wsuffa said:
Amtrak.

'Nuff said.
Click to expand...
More than that. The railroads have enjoyed preferential land use rules, preferential exemption from some federal regulation, preferential treatment for labor actions, etc... All this for the benefit of the traditional (largely freight) railroad.
 
flyingron said:
More than that. The railroads have enjoyed preferential land use rules, preferential exemption from some federal regulation, preferential treatment for labor actions, etc... All this for the benefit of the traditional (largely freight) railroad.
Click to expand...
Oh, I know. Amtrak is simply the most obvious one that most would recognize.

In many states, they get access to the power of eminent domain, too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top