Friday, December 09, 2011

Hickory takes over airport operations. Bankruptcy court removes Riverhawk from control. Hickory Regional Airport (KHKY) Hickory, North Carolina.

HICKORY -- The City of Hickory is now in charge of private aviation operations at Hickory Regional Airport.

An order by the US Bankruptcy Court, Western District, removed Riverhawk Aviation as the fixed base operator. Riverhawk, the FBO since 2008, had filed for +bankruptcy protection.

The court found that Riverhawk does not have the assets to continue as the FBO, and operation was given to the city. The arrangement is permanent, City Manager Mick Berry and an airport official said.

Calls to the Riverhawk telephone number on Friday were answered by city staff.

Riverhawk, originally based in San Antonio, Texas, purchased Profile Aviation to become the FBO.

According to Berry, Hickory will buy some of Riverhawk’s equipment. The city already owns the building used as the FBO center.

In a hearing in Charlotte on Thursday, the bankruptcy court agreed Hickory has the means to continue airport operations without interrupting service. The city assumed official control at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

As the FBO, the city is responsible for supplying all grades of aviation fuel required by tenants and visitors to the airport, maintaining the hangars, towing planes to and from the hangars, and providing a waiting area for pilots and passengers.

The city will contract for aircraft maintenance.

Estimates on the cost of maintaining the FBO were not available Friday, but the city has spent approximately $30,000 in preparation for what was a possible transition in operations.

The city, which owns the airport and the terminal, has an airport fund in its budget that will be used for some transition costs. Months ago, the city built a second fuel farm to ensure supplies of fuel would be available if a transfer of the FBO was necessary and the fuel depot and other parts of the FBO were inaccessible because of liens, credit lines and other financial factors involved in the bankruptcy proceedings. Federal funds also were used to construct the fuel depot.

The court on Thursday authorized the use of the FBO fuel depot and the hangars by the city. However, there are details that must be sorted out through the bankruptcy process and the courts before Hickory has absolute control over all the FBO assets, Berry said.

“The airport could not go dark,” Berry said, adding that Hickory “is committed to stabilize and maintain critical aviation services at the airport for the flying public,” he said.

“Our goal is for the FBO to be self-sustaining,” Berry said, through rent and the sale of fuel. “We want to grow the airport, bring back lost tenants and attract new ones.

“The airport is an economic development tool and an asset to Hickory,” he said.

Terry Clark, who previously oversaw the terminal, is now the airport manager. “His expertise made it possible to continue operations with no disruptions,” Berry said.

The city has added three former Riverhawk employees, part-time, to the airport staff.

“We want to assure the flying public and all Hickory taxpayers that we have a staff that is fully capable of providing outstanding service in a manner that will protect our valuable asset and be wise as they plan for the future,” Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright said Friday.

Danny Lingerfelt, owner and operator of Charlotte Charter Jet and CAPS Flight Management Co., an airport tenant, welcomes the city as the new FBO.

“As a pilot and business owner traveling over the United States, I have found airports and FBOs operate more efficiently when operated by area locals with deep roots in the community willing to put their all into doing the job or by the local city to preserve local community interest,” Lingerfelt said.

More than 10 pilots and aircraft owners were in the courtroom in Charlotte in support of Hickory, according to a news release.

Riverhawk was a full-service FBO that included charter flights and aircraft maintenance. The company has been given time to complete maintenance jobs already under way.

Riverhawk’s intention, according to city officials, was to reorganize through the bankruptcy court and continue as the FBO.

With Hickory’s takeover of the FBO’s responsibilities and the new staff answering the company’s former telephone number, Riverhawk officials could not be contacted for comment.

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