Just wondering if anyone is currently or has been an airport manager on here? An opportunity maybe presenting itself that is intriguing. After all I went to school for aviation and have not 'worked' in aviation other than flight instructing.

Rick Lach (PacerPilot) is the airport manager at Kernville L05.

I managed the city owned airport at Buffalo, Missouri two years. My lease agreement had me arranging for the farmer to mow the grass in exchange for use of the two plane hanger. I ran my spray business and instructed for a club. I also ran a charter operation with Southwest Missouri State College club airplanes. The club president, my former Psychology Professor, gave me a letter of exclusive use. I flew a new 172 up to Kansas City GADO and took the 135 ride in an hour while the secretary typed up my hand written application.

This contract is wanting to add a plane/flight instruction on the manager's expense for a small town. The current manager also owns/operates a cessna repair center and he is an a&p/ai --- which I am not.. Had a number of calls in the past 2 days and even though the city has put in a bunch of $$ to improve the airport, there is not much in fuel sales and other opportunity that I can see if a person needs to also go invest and build a business that is not already there... it's been a learning experience

The instructor time is break even at best. The charter was all profit after club rental. Even with all those breaks, good airplanes owned by others, I depended on the ag to provide food and shelter.

A good airport manager can draw a crowd, which is what you need to make money. Still, the lucrative thing to have is a long runway with an instrument approach and jet fuel. Our airport manager is getting old and it shows. There's a lot of things that need a sqeaky wheel to get fixed. The city is busy doing other things and the airport gets looked at last. I'm the chair of the airport board, so now I'm having to pick up things our aging manager used to do. It's not hard to justify paying a good manager if they can save some of the maintenance expenses, for example, we spend about 50k/year on runway sealing which gets scraped off by the County motor grader every Winter, and thousands more in mangled lights. A manager that could keep it plowed with a floating plow could pay his own salary out of the resurfacing budget. Bad example for an Arizona query, I know, but if you look at their budget and find ways you as a manager could save more than a salary, it might work out.

City politics can be irrational. I was assigned ASN volunteer at Aurora, MO (2h2) after they voted against a development that would have paid for all the city's part in a runway extension that would have accommodated business jets. Instead they spent a great amount on their part of some minor changes. The developer was a "foreigner." Foreigners are those who have not been in the community at least one hundred years.

Nosedragger wrote:A good airport manager can draw a crowd, which is what you need to make money. Still, the lucrative thing to have is a long runway with an instrument approach and jet fuel. Our airport manager is getting old and it shows. There's a lot of things that need a sqeaky wheel to get fixed. The city is busy doing other things and the airport gets looked at last. I'm the chair of the airport board, so now I'm having to pick up things our aging manager used to do. It's not hard to justify paying a good manager if they can save some of the maintenance expenses, for example, we spend about 50k/year on runway sealing which gets scraped off by the County motor grader every Winter, and thousands more in mangled lights. A manager that could keep it plowed with a floating plow could pay his own salary out of the resurfacing budget. Bad example for an Arizona query, I know, but if you look at their budget and find ways you as a manager could save more than a salary, it might work out.

AZ query but Wisconsin position. Its up at Merrill, WI airfield. John Miller Aviation also - John wants to retire. Could be a great opportunity for someone with an A&P/AI .. does a decent business with a Cessna certified repair center. Fuel sales are low as the big jets/etc go to the bigger airfield down in Wausau.

I've never managed an airport, per se, but I chaired the Laramie airport board for 11 years and was on the board somewhat longer than that. Politics is as big an issue as there is, in airport management. A good manager has to learn to play the local political game, whatever that is.

It's a lot easier if there's an airport authority of some nature, with the ability to get things done without dealing constantly with the local airport "owners". We had that authority at Laramie, which is owned by the City and the County, but I can sure see the problems when there is no such authority. At KFNL, the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland own the airport jointly, and they can never seem to agree very quickly to do things together. The manager can't blow his nose without clearing it with both city councils, so you can imagine the delays. Conversely, the Greeley/Weld County airport, where I hangar my airplane, has an airport authority which is nearly autonomous. What a difference!

A lot of smallish airports expect the manager to earn his living doing other aviation-oriented things, and so they pay poorly. Make sure if you take the job that the "owner's" expectations aren't for you to work full time for the airport without being paid commensurately. Years ago I had a client who worked for a small Wyoming airport, had to report to the town council, and his pay was so crappy that he could barely make ends meet even doing IA work--and yet they expected him to live on the airport property, pay rent for the mobile home space that his trailer occupied, and be available 24/7 for airport business. Don't get suckered into that sort of arrangement!

Good luck!

Cary

Thanks Cary. They expect a lot of things.. decent $57k contract, but require the current guy to have someone there 7 days a week. he does a decent repair biz, but is working on them reducing the hrs. Has self serve pumps/etc and ability for call out if an issue.

Basically, I think I am going to pass. They want a flight school but someone would have to build a hangar/etc as everything else is filled.

Is the contract negotiable? It sounds to me as if what they're asking isn't exactly going to draw a crowd, especially if they also want a flight school there.....

If all hangars are full, they may be able to build more hangars, and increase revenues that way, using AIP funds.

I'd maybe make an appointment and go visit, with an "offer" that's reasonable, and see what they have to say.

MTV