Flew into KORL over the weekend with my dad just for a fun flight and quick turn around. Figured we'd stop at Atlantic since their fuel was marginally cheaper than Sheltair. I greeted the girl behind the desk and asked if she had a crew car available. She said she did, to which I said great, let me know what you need... $50 I assured her I was only staying for an hour max, since we just wanted to go eat something and leave. She said it was $40 for something and $10 for something else. I politely raised hell, and she eventually waived the fees and we took an uber to our lunch spot. So needless to say I was pretty shocked at the $50 they wanted. I guess they were nice enough to waive it, but has anyone else encountered this recently? Makes me want to add a review on airnav and grab some swag.
Wonder how many times they get that reaction. Did you check air nav,before your flight? I try to stay away from the Orlando area airports.so many other good airports with restaurants on the field.
Montauk, and Fisher's Island. At Fisher's Island you get a bicycle for your money. At Montauk I just got attitude.
09J (Jekyll Island, GA). Free electric fancy golf cart to explore the island. No fees. Not sure where you are based, but it's only 150 miles from KORL.
Funny you mention that we were just talking about heading up that way (coming from Tampa). The few people we've mentioned it to have said to do St. Simons instead. Might have to take another look.
Flies into busy terminal area airport. Parks at Atlantic. Shocked there are fees. I’m shocked that they actually waived them.
I am shocked they waived them too. I flew into Addison KADS this past weekend and parked at Atlantic for a new airplane expo that they sent me an invitation to. $50.
I am indeed shocked to pay $50 to park a Cessna for an hour. Have yet to go to an airport that charged more than $20. Live and learn
A few years ago I got a bill in the mail from an airport for landing and parking fee. They did not have a tail number or even a description of the plane that was supposed to be there. I felt like sending a blank sheet of paper saying it was my payment, but I did not. I just told them I can't pay a landing and parking fee when I did not land and park there.
The two are opposite ends of the spectrum. St. Simons is really touristy and Jekyll is quant and really laid back. I guess it depends on what you're looking for...
This really isn't news anymore. AOPA has a campaign against these fees. It should be assumed that if you to go a Signature or Atlantic FBO you will have a large handling fee. These are generally waived if you buy some fuel--you didn't mention whether you actually bought fuel, only that the price was lower than the competition. Jon
Telluride (KTEX) last Friday. My son was visiting and we flew up to KTEX just looking around. I had been there before a couple of times and had been charged a ramp fee, $25, I think. Quiet morning, no other aircraft on the CTAF/Unicom frequency. We landed and immediately began taxiing to the east runup area to prepare to leave. The FBO lady called and asked what services we needed; I said none, we were just sightseeing and would be leaving immediately. She said I needed to taxi back to the FBO to pay the landing fees. I asked if she really wanted me to turn around, taxi all the way back and shut down, to pay a ramp fee when I never actually entered their ramp area? Silence on the frequency for a few seconds and then she came back and said that since she didn't inform me of the fees when I called originally, that she would waive them. I said thanks.
Thanks. I hadn't looked at that site before, just AirNav. I do wonder if what they say about the airport being completely self-funded is actually true. I would be surprised if they didn't receive funding from the FAA, the State of Colorado, etc., but I suppose it could be true. Another odd thing: the landing fee quoted there was $2 per 1000 lbs takeoff weight (for a/c less than 12,500 lbs). That would be only $4 for my RV-9. I paid over $20 last year, I suppose they must have added other fees in there.
Or they just want people that don't complain about the fees. The problem is, many people like myself, don't complain. We just don't come back if the service wasn't worth the fee.
LOL.... Lennie Dick was certainly a personality. I avoided Montauk like the plague back in the 80's when I lived and flew on LI. I did a few charters to Fishers, but never left the airport grounds.
ORF isn't any better. Got dinged for the same doing a PnP transfer.. never left the tarmac. Still wouldn't waive it.
What happens if you tell them to screw off. Can you lose your license? Can your plane be grounded? Take it to court and let them prove that you were notified of the fees in advance of landing there and what their area of jurdisdiction is. Do they get to charge fees for the entire airport?
I think this is partially true. Looking at the KTEX ramp, you see a lot of Gulfstreams, Citations, Pilatus, etc., I would guess those are the folks the infrastructure is meant for. I haven't complained about fees when visiting there before, I was just trying to avoid 20 minutes of inconvenience and shutting down and starting my engine for one stop and go.
Well the OP wanted to use their ramp, use their air-conditioned FBO, borrow their crew car, probably ate some of the "free cookies" grabbed some bottled water, used the bathroom, the parking lot, the address of the FBO to wait on the Uber, all on the FBO's dime... Maybe $50 is a little steep, but then again it costs many thousands of dollars a day to run an operation like that. Who pays??
Every one of those things you just mentioned was a choice that the FBO made to offer those services. Payment for services rendered is fine but it must be the customers choice, not an after the fact add-on that you know nothing about until it's too late.
How can you “know nothing about” a ramp fee at an FBO? Most places, if you use their facility, you pay. If they say “no charge” I take it as a bonus, because I expect to pay something. You can argue that it’s too high, but you can’t expect it to be free unless it’s a small, county run facility. Even some of those charge.
Yeah, they made a choice to invest in facilities and hire staff so that they could charge for those services and make a profit doing it. The problem is that some people think "profit" is a bad word. If cost is that important, then a phone call or an email can help you avoid most of the gouging.
That's kind of the issue. We taxpayers have already paid to build the runway, the ramp and the access gate. If that's all you want to use, why do we have to pay a private company to use our public facilities?
I flew in to ORL Monday and dropped off my son and his wife for their honeymoon. Sheltair gave me full service gas at self service price ($5 something per gallon). Gave me a crew car and no additional fees. I was happy, other than the 100+ gallons to top off the 310.
Whenever this issue comes up, I ask the same question. I am not a lawyer but somewhere I recall that nobody can demand payment for services not contracted. That is called a tax. without a SS# they cannot ding your credit report. Can they sue you for nonpayment of $50? Is it even considered theft? So far I have avoided this situation, but I am tempted to ask the guys at my local FBO.
So how much would you charge me to roll up and park in your driveway, walk in and use your restroom, flop on the furniture, use your PC for weather, and borrow your car to run into town for lunch?
All pilots have knowledge that some FBO have ramp fees. When you recklessly enter you agree to the fees.
When friends come over they do all of the above and throw me $5-$10 for beer (fuel?). So I guess $5-10....wait a second...
What about when you DON'T do any of that? I didn't even park on Hawthorne's ramp at RYY and they tried charging me $75 because they had the only hole in the airport fence I could walk through.
1. The FBO at an airport handling business jets has to have line staff directing aircraft on the ramp. Last I checked they are not volunteers. 2. The airport is funded through fees and rentals. Hawthorne was the highest bidder for the ramp you say you should park on for free. 3. Since 911, the FBO is required to monitor access to the airport secure area and is subject to severe fines for failing to do so. Hawthorne also has to pay employees to do that function. 4. The airport could provide you a ramp and a hole, but they would likely charge you a $100 landing fee to cover that expense.
Line staff never did anything with my plane. I didn't park on their ramp. $75 to push a button to open the door? GTFO. Even at $20/hr CSR pay, I needed their "services" for less than one minute. 1 minute @ $20/hr is a quarter, a nickle, and four pennies. They never did (charge an exorbitant fee) before Hawthorne came to town. Try again. Oh, and they have comments on airnav disabled and don't (at least the time) post them on their website so you can't even find out ahead of time.
Ed, I’m not a big Hawthorne fan. Unfortunately, no matter where you parked, it was probably on their ramp. They control both the north and south sides of the airport and unless you had an arrangement with one of the other businesses on the airport, it was on “their ramp”. I’m sure the county is making out well with Hawthorne having a monopoly, it sucks for those of us that use the airport.
