Could Air-1 become the Wegmans Chopper? Onondaga sheriff wants to put a corporate name on Air-1 to keep helicopter flying. Syracuse, New York.

Dick Blume/The Post Standard

Onondaga County Sheriff's Office Deputy Brian Phelps shows Upstate University Hospital's medical camp students the Air-1 helicopter on the roof of the hospital in this July 22, 2011 file photo.

Searching for ways to keep his department’s helicopter flying during tough economic times, Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh is trying to sell naming rights to the Bell 407 it uses for search and rescue missions, aerial patrols and emergency medical transports.

Walsh said he is seeking businesses that would be willing to make a financial contribution toward the helicopter’s operation in exchange for having the company’s name displayed prominently on it.

“We’re actively pursuing it,” said Walsh. “We have been talking to some folks, and we’re going to be expanding that field. We have no commitment at this point.”

He said the helicopter would keep its “Air-1” radio call sign but would become known publicly by the name of the business that buys its naming rights.

“The fact that it saves lives every year should make it a big hit for any company,” he said.

Onondaga County government has been in the naming-rights business for years. Alliance Bank is paying the county a total of $2.8 million under a 20-year deal for the naming rights to the county’s minor-league baseball stadium, which formerly was named P&C Stadium under a naming rights agreement with the P&C supermarket chain.

The Wegmans supermarket chain has been paying the county $150,000 a year since 2002 to defray the cost of running Onondaga Lake Park. The entrance to the park is named Wegmans Landing and the company’s name appears on the trams that operate within the park.

Walsh is under pressure to find new revenues to support the helicopter. County Executive Joanie Mahoney included no tax dollars for Air-1 in her proposed 2012 county budget. Mahoney said the sheriff will have to find raise money from service fees, grants and donations to keep the helicopter flying.

The sheriff’s office has formed a nonprofit foundation to accept donations for Air-1. It also has applied to the Federal Aviation Administration for a commercial operator’s license, which would allow the office to charge a fee for medical transports.

But Walsh said he does not believe he can raise enough money through fees and donations to pay the entire cost of the helicopter, which totals more than $500,000 a year.

Walsh would not discuss dollar amounts, but he said he thinks money from the sale of naming rights could represent a significant long-term revenue source for Air-1.

Selling naming rights to medical transport helicopters, which are usually operated by private commercial services, is not unusual. But Kurt Frisz, president of the Airborne Law Enforcement Association, of Frederick, Md., said the practice is becoming increasingly common among police agencies under pressure to reduce the cost to taxpayers for police helicopters.

Often, companies that sell aviation equipment used on police helicopters are the ones that buy the naming rights, said Frisz, a pilot with the St. Louis County Police Department in Missouri.

“Obviously, you’re not going to have a big beer banner on the bottom of the helicopter,” he said.

Pat Kilmartin, R-Onondaga, chairman of the County Legislature’s Public Safety Committee, said he supports selling naming rights to Air-1.

“It’s an unusual way to secure funding for a county service, but we have emphasized that the sheriff’s office should reduce the cost to taxpayers,” he said.

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