Sutter airport considers Stanislaus' partnership with pilots
They typically don't have much passenger service, nor are they hubs for cargo flights. But general aviation airports can thrive.
In Yuba County, airport manager Mary Hansen said the airport has a couple of factors that have enabled it to be self-sustaining in recent years, even during a tough economy.
"I think a lot of it has to do with looking at your rates and what's charged," she said.
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Twenty years ago, the county studied the issue and adjusted accordingly, Hansen said.
"You have to regularly look at your fees," she said.
Because Sutter County didn't do the same, she said, it has been forced to do it in a shorter window.
In Stanislaus County, what happened with an airport owned by the city of Turlock shows another way a struggling airport can regain its footing, or elevation, if you prefer.
About a decade ago, the airport's budget was in the red, and was thus affecting the city's budget, much as Sutter County's airport is doing now to its parent agency.
The solution, a pilots group taking over management while ownership remained with the city, worked in spades, said Harrison Gibbs, who has been on the pilots board ever since.
"We're collecting higher rents and we're running it as a business," said Gibbs, who added the city's participation is still necessary to get grants for airport upgrades. "The bottom line is, you have to have revenue."
Joe Borzelleri, a member of a Sutter County pilots group hoping to model Gibbs' group locally, said they will present a takeover plan to the county by mid-year. Volunteer labor and keeping expenses down will be key parts, he said.
But not everything is a fair comparison.
Hansen said she would acknowledge her airport derives some revenue from developed industrial land along its edges; Sutter County's airport doesn't have such extra land.
But regardless of the situation, Hansen said, those involved with an airport have to keep one fact in mind.
"Your airport is very important in terms of emergency situations," she said. "You have to look at it that way, as an asset."
CONTACT Ben van der Meer at bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4786. Find him on Facebook at /ADbvandermeer or on Twitter at @ADbvandermeer.
Sutter airport has hit its own 'fiscal cliff'
Sutter airport has hit its own 'fiscal cliff'
