Pilots frustrated over rising gate fees at Hammonton Municipal Airport (N81), New Jersey.

Joseph Flood of Franklin Township discusses the Hammonton Airport access blockage, Thursday Sep. 8. Some aviators who use a hangar adjacent to Hammonton Airport said the the airport has suddenly increased the gate fees from $125 to $1,000 per month, and placed a tractor in front of their runway entrance until they pay up.

Posted: Saturday, September 10, 2011 8:15 am 

Updated: 9:40 am, Sat Sep 10, 2011.

By WALLACE McKELVEY 

Press of Atlantic City.com 

Tenants of the Taildragger Inn, a private airplane hangar at the Hammonton Airport, have had their access to the runways blocked by the airport’s operators.

A tractor has been parked in front of the gate since Sept. 3, blocking access to nearly a dozen single-engine airplanes.

The pilots say it is the latest volley in an ongoing battle over rising gate fees, one that could spell the end of aerobatics at the municipal airfield.

“It’s like the fourth-grade playground and someone took their ball and headed home,” said Dennis Thompson, a Mays Landing pilot with two planes at the inn.

Thompson also serves as government liaison for the International Aerobatics Club.

Airport officials say the stunt pilots have become a liability to the growing facility, which has undergone a revitalization project in recent years to attract more commercial flights.

“There’s just too much traffic coming in,” Airport Administrator Rock Colasurdo said. “We have gliders and twin-engine planes and two helicopters based there now. At this point, the traffic is just not conducive to people doing aerobatics.”

On Aug. 20, the midair collision of two single-engine planes near the airport left one pilot dead. Two days later, Town Council voted to close the aerobatic box above the airport — where pilots practice their maneuvers — for 120 days.

Thompson said the town was not authorized to take that action, adding that it is another example of the deteriorating relationship between the airport and its local users.

FAA Eastern Region spokesman Jim Peters said his agency rescinded the waiver for the aerobatics box Aug. 22.

“The FAA is the only authority that has jurisdiction over the U.S. airspace,” he said.

The shut-out

Joseph Flood, of Franklin Township, Gloucester County, said the blockage threatens Jenny Aviation, the airplane-restoration and repair shop he has operated out of the Taildragger Inn for seven years.

“I’m out of business,” said Flood, a pilot for more than 30 years. “How can I operate if I can’t get airplanes in and out?”

The dispute is not over traffic, he said, adding that the number of planes parked at the airport at any given time has dropped from about 50 to 14 over the past decade.

Flood said it’s over money.

He said the airport has demanded $1,000 in monthly gate — or access — fees after charging $100 for years.

Colasurdo said the airport has not had a contract with the private hangar since 1992 and the $100-per-month fee has not been increased in even longer.

“There hasn’t been a signed contract since I got here 31 months ago, so that’s the problem we have now,” he said.

Colasurdo said the hangar’s owner, Barry Straga, has not paid anything in 25 months because the airport stopped accepting his $100 fee.

“I wouldn’t accept $100,” he said. “Once you accept that, you have a contract.”

In the latest round of negotiations, Colasurdo said, the airport had requested $500 per month for through-the-gate access.

“Their last offer was $250, and we won’t accept that, so we sealed the gate,” he said.

Straga, who has owned the Taildragger Inn for four years, declined to comment on the specifics of the negotiations.

He said he hoped the airport would follow FAA guidelines and charge a fee that was “fair and equitable.”

“There’s a good chance of solving this problem in the next week or so,” he said. “I think there’s been enough said. I don’t want to jeopardize anything that’s been going on.”

An expanding airport

Mayor Steve DiDonato said the Hammonton Airport’s future is bright, with one Medevac helicopter already stationed there, a runway overlay scheduled for this fall and the possibility of a State Police helicopter being stationed there in January.

He said he hopes the airport will be a destination for pilots who want to land in South Jersey without the congestion of the larger airports.

“The airport’s going to be a viable entity; that is, a positive cash flow for the town of Hammonton and producing revenue over and above its cost,” he said.

In the past, DiDonato said, that has not happened.

Colasurdo said the South Hangar renovation has been completed and three or four people have expressed interest in running the proposed restaurant.

Similarly, he said many of the once-vacant airport buildings have found tenants.

“We were making about $15,000 the year before,” he said. “At this point, we’re going to make around $40,000 this year already.”

As the facilities are upgraded, Colasurdo said he anticipates more traffic and larger airplanes using the airport.

“We already have million-dollar airplanes flying through,” he said. “The aerobatics and all that just can’t be anymore.”

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