National Air Transportation Association (NATA) President and CEO Thomas L. Hendricks recently wrote to the Town of Islip, N.Y., requesting it drop recently imposed landing fees on based aircraft at Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP). The town imposed landing fees on all aircraft effective Sept. 1, 2014, and for the first time made them applicable to based aircraft. In addition, the new fee schedule established even higher rates for night landings.
NATA represents a broad array of aviation service business essential to the general aviation sector, including companies located at ISP.
In the letter, Hendricks requested reconsideration of the new fees, noting the intended increase would likely lead to reduced business and investment and potential job loss at the airport.
Hendricks also posed a series of questions to Islip officials to determine if the additional nighttime landing fee is consistent with the airport’s grant assurance obligations, observing that the imposition of higher fees for nighttime operations at ISP appears to be a defacto attempt to curb traffic, which requires specific approval of the FAA.
Hendricks closed by noting, “Ultimately, aircraft owners and operators will choose their airport based on a variety of factors including the availability of lower-cost alternatives. To preserve ISP as a vibrant economic engine for the community, it is critical to ensure the airport remains cost-competitive with other nearby facilities.”
Could be that the city council is looking to drive business into the ground and then closing it and selling it to some money under the table developers…er..bribers..
There are several airports that I refuse to fly into because of landing fees. There are too many nice places to fly to without paying to land. I would be looking to see where to move my plane if I got hit with fees like that.