CAA: GA News, "Fort Wayne, Ind., Aircraft Owners Want Small Airport to Stay Open"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wednesday, November 6, 2002

Fort Wayne, Ind., Aircraft Owners Want Small Airport to Stay Open
The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.


Several aircraft owners using Smith Field said Fort Wayne International
Airport would be an unattractive alternative if the small general
aviation airport on the city's north side closes. 

They voiced those opinions during a hearing held by Fort Wayne-Allen
County Airport Authority on a program it is considering to lessen some
of the financial impact of relocating from Smith Field to FWA. 

The hearing was held at Days Inn next to the FWA terminal to accommodate
a larger crowd than the airport authority's board room can hold. The
motel's Boeing Ballroom was set up for 200, and was well- filled, though
not to capacity. 

Participants had two minutes to speak if they were there to present
their own views and five if they represented a group. Many of them spoke
with intensity, but the hearing was as calm and orderly as the courtroom
proceedings some aircraft owners have initiated in an effort to block
Smith Field's sale. 

"It is our sincere hope that we can reach a negotiated settlement," said
Stephen Hatch, a director of Smith Airfield ForEver, which is trying to
prevent the north-side airport's demise. Hatch spoke first, and asked
SAFE members to keep references to the lawsuit out of the hearing. 

He told commissioners he personally knew of no aircraft owners at Smith
Field planning to relocate to FWA, and asked any in the room considering
the larger Fort Wayne airport as a location for their planes to show
their hands. 

None did. "It's less than ideally suited to the type of aviation we
generally experience at Smith Field," Hatch said. 

After the hearing, he said he hoped the unenthusiastic response to the
proposed airport relocation assistance program might persuade
commissioners to reconsider it. 

"We think it's a good time to take a few steps back and look at the
whole thing, including the closure assistance program," he said. 

Under part of the proposed program, Smith Field tenants who agreed by
March 31 to relocate to FWA would receive $100 per month credit for a
year on their rent of space in a newly built, authority-owned hangar. 

The authority estimates typical rent for its new hangars would be about
$240, and some aircraft owners who are used to paying $70 per month at
Smith Field complained about the higher price. 

Kenneth Russell, a volunteer representative for an airport support
network of the national Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said the
March 31 commitment deadline should be moved back. 

He said Smith Field isn't scheduled to close until July, the authority
has said it wouldn't have new hangars built by then and aircraft owners
need more time to consider alternatives. 

Some business owners said closing Smith Field would hurt their business
or eliminate important opportunities to develop it. 

Eugene Bonfiglio is trying to develop a charter business at Smith Field
flying aged and handicapped passengers who can't handle a two-hour wait
for a scheduled flight at FWA. 

Access to his aircraft would be more difficult at FWA and he doesn't
expect hangar space to be ready at smaller nearby airports by the time
Smith Field closes, he said. 

"I would be moving out of Allen County. I'll put my house up for sale
the day Smith Field closes."

The authority had a copy of a plan for the relocation assistance program
available at its executive offices for at least a month and also has
posted the plan on its Web site.


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