The city of Oneonta is considering two separate agreements with one particular aviation company that would outsource airport management with an aim to increase traffic at the Albert S. Nader Regional Airport.
The members of the Finance and Human Resources Committee discussed the proposal Thursday, May 15. The two agreements with Hawkeye Aviation LLC includes one for airport management services, costing the city $20,000 annually, and another for a fixed base operator to manage fuel sales and operations, with an annual fee paid to the city of $11,600, which would partially offset the payment for airport management.
City Administrator Greg Mattice said that Hawkeye would lease the airport’s main hangar and be the operator of the fuel farm rather than the city. A separate airport management agreement with Hawkeye would cover day-to-day operations of the airport on behalf of the city, such as routine maintenance, snow removal and infrastructure inspections.
Airport Commission Chairperson Martijn Kamerbeek said the agreements with Hawkeye would benefit both the city and the airport economically.
“I believe that putting this in the hands of an organization like Hawkeye,” he said, “will allow that organization to focus on increasing the traffic, which is something that, in the end, is going to benefit all of us. It’s going to benefit this facility in many different ways. Think about people having here, booking hotel rooms, renting cars. This is a unique opportunity for the city. It’s also a prototype, so the contract term proposed here is one year.”
Kamerbeek added that while Hawkeye is a newly formed company, the owners have experience with airport operations, fuel stations, civil engineering and managing organizations.
Mattice said that the intent is for the current part-time airport employee to work for Hawkeye instead of the city, but in an expanded role.
“Essentially, the expenditure is just shifting around a bit,” he said.
He added that Hawkeye aims to increase traffic and revenue, potentially reducing the city’s net negative airport budget of $25,000 by increasing flight traffic to and from the airport, which hopefully would drive up fuel sales, as well as increase hanger rentals.
Kamerbeek said that while there are no deadlines to approve the agreements, there is some urgency due to the upcoming tourist season. The committee agreed to review the draft contracts and bring the discussion to the full council at Tuesday’s meeting.