Jan. 7—The Columbus Municipal Airport is undergoing a change in management following a complaint filed with the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) and the agency's subsequent determination.
Avcraft, Inc., owned by Keith and Janace Harbour, has been a fixed-base operator (FBO) at the Columbus Municipal Airport for over 30 years and is currently the only FBO there. An FBO is an organization that has been allowed to operate at the airport and provide services such as aircraft maintenance, fueling and more.
The Board of Airport Commissioners approved at its Aug. 29 meeting to seek a request for proposals (RFP) for fixed-base operator services.
A memo from Airport Manager Aaron Diedrichs dated Aug. 23 noted there is not a 141 flight school (specific pilot training to anyone in the community) or a 135 charter service with the airport's current FBO, and an RFP would show what FBOs are interested in coming and what they can offer.
A potential new FBO had expressed interest in coming to the Columbus airport and, according to the Aug. 29 meeting minutes, the fairest way to select an FBO would be through the RFP process. A committee was formed to review the proposals and make a recommendation.
In October, Avcraft filed an informal complaint with the FFA regarding concerns over a potential exclusive rights violation. Federally obligated airports — those whose owners/operators accept federal funds, such as Columbus' — are prohibited from granting exclusive rights to any person providing or intending to provide aeronautical services or commodities to the public.
The FAA's determination on the complaint, which is dated Dec. 23, found the City of Columbus was "perilously close" to violating Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination which requires the airport sponsor (in this case, the city) to make the airport available on reasonable terms without unjust discrimination to aeronautical activities.
In response to the complaint, the determination stated, City Administrator Tara Vasicek maintained that an aircraft charter or flight school service would not be demanded from any FBO and that the FBO agreement with the new company would not be exclusive and Avcraft could enter into an FBO agreement with the city but it was not willing to meet the same contract terms.
However, documentation provided to the FAA showed Diedrichs reportedly had different conversations with Avcraft, specifically regarding them not offering a 141 flight school or 135 charter service. Those comments "could be construed as a 'demand' to 'offer' a service not required by contract, or a demand to provide the service if Avcraft wants to be considered for a future FBO lease," the determination stated.
Avcraft does offer flight training with a single instructor and has a charter agreement in place that allows companies to come in for those services as needed.
Notably, the determination said, the airport manager had stated in an August email that a new company would offer a 135 on site, which predates the city's September RFP initiation, "calling into question the objectivity of the process."
With Avcraft currently leasing property at the airport and the successor FBO having not yet executed a lease agreement, "no evidence of an exclusive rights violation exists at this time," the determination said.
Vasicek told the Telegram the RFP was initiated because she had been informed Avcraft was not willing to negotiate, which she later discovered was untrue.
"Unfortunately, this was a case of an employee telling me one thing and doing another. After discovering this I did more research on the topic and determined that our airport manager did not negotiate with the current FBO, Avcraft, in good faith. The city no longer has an employer/employee relationship with that airport manager," Vasicek said.
Vasicek added the city will be entering into negotiations with Avcraft.
"We feel validated on the response because she (the FAA official) found a lot of the things that we were saying were all true," Janace Harbour told the Telegram. "We're hoping that with the airport manager out of the picture that the city will negotiate in good faith with us."
Harbour noted that while she and her husband are approaching retirement age, they want to be able to leave on their own terms when ready to do so.
"Hopefully, this will give them (the city) the opportunity to mitigate the situation and depending if they negotiate in good faith will determine our next steps," Harbour said.
Hannah Schrodt can be reached at [email protected].
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