A sign welcomes visitors to the Genesee County Airport in the town of Batavia.
(Rocco Laurienzo/Daily News)
Posted: Sunday, March 4, 2012 8:00 am | Updated: 12:05 pm, Sat Mar 3, 2012.
By Ben Beagle
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following story originally appeared in Business Outlook 2012, a special section of The Daily News published on Feb. 25.)
A Cessna airplane in the center of the hangar at Boshart Enterprises has been stripped inside and out to its silver aluminum skin as it waits to be refurbished for the Civil Air Patrol. The interior has been gutted so that only seat rails remain, and empty holes look out from the console that would normally be busy with gauges, switches and dials.
Behind that plane are several others. Two technicians work on either side of the Beechcraft Bonanza’s engine replacing cylinders as part of an annual inspection. A large, double-engine Widgeon seaplane is having restoration work done on its nearly 70-year-old fuselage. And in a back corner, a technician works diligently threading several feet of wires through a metal harness to be installed on another Cessna undergoing an overhaul.
The 100-by-100-foot hangar adjacent to the main terminal at Genesee County Airport is as full as it can be and still allow the Boshart crew room to inspect, repair and retrofit the aircraft.
“It’s a really good airport for a small airport,” says Carol Boshart, who with her husband Jeff has operated their business at the airport for 31 years. “We’ve seen different times where we’ve been extremely busy, then times when we worry. But the last couple of years have been very busy.”
The growth of Boshart Enterprises is emblematic of a decade that has seen increased development and profitability at Genesee County Airport, which sits on several hundred acres in the town of Batavia, north of the city. A study released last summer by the state Department of Transportation indicates the facility — which has recorded a profit for the county in eight of the last nine years — is among the top general airports in the state for economic development.
The New York Statewide Airport Economics Impacts Study surveyed 90 public-use airports in the state Airport System Plan, including 72 airports that, like Genesee County’s, are classified as “General Aviation” facilities. GA airports do not have scheduled airline service, though they may serve as reliever airports for larger commercial service airports nearby. There are 18 commercial service airports in New York, including Rochester and Buffalo international.
The study, funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and DOT, examined the economic activity, jobs and taxes generated by the aviation sector in New York for 2009, and said the state’s aviation sector could have positive effects on New York’s economy.
“Continued strategic investment in New York State’s aviation industry will help rebuild the economy by attracting and retaining businesses that depend on aviation for shipping and receiving goods, while also providing business and recreational travelers with safe, fast and reliable service,” Department of Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald said in a statement.
The Genesee County Airport on East Saile Drive was the 11th highest-earning general aviation airport in New York, and also ranked No. 11 in total economic activity, according to the study. Among a dozen general aviation airports in Western New York, Genesee County ranked second only to Niagara Falls International.
Genesee County Airport was credited with supporting 90 jobs, more than $7.5 million in annual earnings and a total economic activity of $18.1 million, which includes sponsor and indirect expenditures and visitor spending at the airport, according to the study. Direct impacts come from providers and users of services at the airport, and include payroll, capital expenditures, operating and maintenance costs, taxes and fees, such as hangar rentals, land-lease and fuel charges, and off-site economic activities that are attributable to the airport. Indirect impacts result from the recirculation of direct impacts.
On-airport business, the study said, directly contributed 52 full- and part-time jobs and $13.8 million in economic activity to the overall economic impact.
The study noted that an expansion of the runway at Genesee County Airport to accommodate jet traffic has increased the airport’s role as a corporate aviation facility. The runway was increased by 1,100 feet to 5,500 feet as part of a $2.9 million project completed in August 2005 that also saw the re-routing of 3,500 feet of State Street Road. The longer runway allows the airport to accommodate medium-sized jets and, in an emergency, even a 737.
“The significance of the airport to area commerce is in many ways defined by its business clientele,” the state study said.
The airfield’s presence across the road from Milton Caterpillar’s facility was a factor in the company — which also has a corporate jet — choosing Genesee County for a $20 million sales, services and parts facility that opened in December 2007, local officials have said. The facility consolidated the company’s Buffalo and Rochester operations in Batavia.
“The Genesee County Airport is an integral piece to the sales and attraction process that the Genesee County Economic Development Center utilizes to attract companies and investment to our county,” said Steve Hyde, president and CEO of GCEDC.
The longer runway, Hyde said, gives the county an advantage when negotiating with potential investors.
Local companies can land a jet at the airport and be at their business within minutes instead of flying in to Rochester and Buffalo where they will be faced with a longer commute, and may also experience delays from commercial travel and schedules.
“The airport makes travel easy and efficient for executives and personnel,” said Chris Suozzi, vice president of development for GCEDC. “I believe that the airport is crucial to the GCEDC’s efforts in attracting companies to Genesee County.”
The FAA, in its National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (2011-2015), said the demand for business aircraft has grown over the past several years and that “business usage of general aviation aircraft will expand at a faster pace than that for personal/recreation use.” Reasons, according to the report, include new offerings, new jets, increasing foreign demand and corporate safety and security concerns for staff. Increasing flight delays at some U.S. airports have also made corporate and charter flights practical alternatives to business travel on commercial flights.
Prominent corporate and institutional organizations that used Genesee County Airport in 2009, the study said, included Thunderun Aviation Corporation, Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, Sierra Alpha Aviation, Mercy Flight Western New York, Boshart Enterprises, New York State Police and Fifth Third Leasing Co. The airport also houses numerous crop-dusting planes and is used for training by the Army National Guard.
Genesee County has operated the airport since the mid-1970s after purchasing what was then a private airfield. The county staffs the airport and rents or leases property, hangers and tie-down spaces to private individuals and businesses. The county also sells fuel to airport-based and transient aircraft.
The past decade or so has been one of growth and development for the airport. Since 1998, more than $13 million has been invested, mostly through FAA funds, toward improving and expanding services at Genesee County Airport.
“The FAA got serious about improving small airports and said you need to be serious if you wanted help to improve your airport. They wanted to see a commitment,” Genesee County Manager Jay Gsell said.
The turning point may have come in 2002 when the airport broke even financially. The next year, it turned a profit of about $6,000.
“It was a very conscious decision by the highway superintendent and county Legislature to get the airport to be self-sufficient,”Gsell said.
That goal has been largely achieved, he said.
Since 2003, the airport has recorded profits in seven of eight years. A loss of $15,008 in 2008 was paid back with 2009 earnings of $34,117, that still left the airport with a small profit for 2009. The past two years, revenues have exceeded expenses by $96,000, according Gsell.
The airport budget for 2012 is $724,000, Gsell said.
Revenue increases have been driven by rentals of consistently-full hangars and fuel sales, according to annual reports.
There are 38 multi-bay hangars for lease at the airport. All are full, and there is a waiting list for openings. About 70 airplanes are regularly based at the airport. A hangar built in 2010 will contribute about $28,000 a year in rents.
Full hangars bring more aircraft activity, and more fuel sales, which were up 5.5 percent in 2010 from 2009. Jet fuel sales increased even more, a 19 percent rise in 2010 as the airport continues to attract more corporate and business air traffic. Total jet fuel sales represented nearly 57 percent of all sales in 2010, compared to 22.6 percent in 2002 and 17.2 percent in 2001, according to the airport’s 2010 annual report.
Also contributing to the airport’s economic impact has been increasing private investments. Two large, privately-owned corporate-style hangars were constructed in 2010. The facilities contribute to both the airport and local tax base.
The airport has also hosted fly-in pancake breakfasts, meetings, educational tours and other promotional events.
Keys to boosting an airport’s economic impact, the state report said, include airport branding, marketing and promotion, improvements in air service, partnerships with public and private agencies and institutions, retaining existing tenants and transient clients, developing non-aeronautical real estate and attracting aviation businesses and manufacturers.
“This study confirms that aviation is not only a significant economic driver for the state, but also one that is growing, which is extraordinary considering how many business sectors have struggled during a time of economic slowdown,” Carl R. Beardsley Jr., past president of the New York Aviation Management Association, said in a statement. The Albany-based group is a non-profit association of airport managers and government officials that advocates for sustaining the viability of the state’s airports.
The study, Beardsley said, will be useful in marketing the state’s aviation assets and attracting private sector investment to the state’s airports.
The study said that airports produce a greater economic benefit than the level of public investment required to maintain the system. More than $610 million was invested in airports by federal, state and local sources for capital improvements in 2009, the study said.
Genesee County, using money from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program was able to leverage $73,219 in county money into $3 million in infrastructure improvements between2005 and 2009. The AIP program provides grants for essential functions, such as safety improvements and restoration of runways and airfield aprons.
The county has one more big project it wants to undertake: replacing its aging airport terminal and main hangar that the FAA has said is also too close to the runway.
“It’s the next priority, but it needs funding,” Gsell said.
Very preliminary planning has started, but development of the project is likely dependent on the availability of funding from FAA and state programs, Gsell said.
Those sources have been seeing reductions in recent years, according to Chad Nixon, current president of the New York Aviation Management Association.
Nixon, in testimony submitted Jan. 26 to a joint legislative hearing on New York’s 2012-13 executive budget for transportation, said that while “tremendous gains” have been made in addressing critical airport improvement needs, the proposed budget “continues the disturbing trend of providing reduced state support for airports.”
“The lack of a permanent and dedicated source of state funding for aviation in the budget in the face of growing infrastructure needs of airports is frustrating,” Nixon testified. “Much of the airport infrastructure remains or is becoming ill-suited to help spur economic activity.”
The improvements at Genesee County Airport have been noticed by the Bosharts who draw customers from an increasingly greater geographic area. A market that used to be primarily Rochester, now includes Buffalo, Syracuse, Oswego, Pennsylvania and Canada, in addition to an increasing number of corporate planes, Carol Boshart said.
“Thirty years ago this was a recreational business. Now, it’s not just recreational, it’s corporate, too,” said Jeff Boshart.
A lot of the change, he said, arrived with the longer runway.
“That changed a lot. It made our airport accessible to a lot of aircraft,” he said. “And I think it’s become more of a tool, too, for small and medium-sized businesses to gain access to our region. I see the airport as part of our infrastructure, an important part.”
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Airport developments
Between 1998 and 2010, Genesee County Airport on East Saile Drive has undergone $13 million in capital improvements, mostly funded by the Federal Aviation Administration. Some recent airport projects:
2011: The airport received nearly $1.3 million in funding to rehabilitate and expand airport aprons, which will provide greater and safer aircraft movement and aircraft parking. The Genesee County Legislature also approved two long-term land leases for new private hangars that will generate about $8,750 per year in revenue for a 20-year period.
2010: Bob Miler Flight Training of Buffalo opened a flight school in September. Two large corporate-style hangars were constructed by private owners. The hangars contribute to both the airport business and local tax base.
2009: Genesee County constructed and leased an eight-bay T-hangar, bringing the total number of multi-bay hangars for lease at the airport to 38. The hangar cost $474,500 to build, with $300,000 provided in state aid. The hangar produced about $28,000 in annual revenue while also adding to the based aircraft purchasing fuel at the airport. Mercy Flight opens a base of operations at the airport in August.
2008: The FAA provides a grant of $655,500 for improvements at the east end of the runway, including regarding and removing obstructions, and demolition of an old hangar. The project is estimated at $690,000. A 10-bay T-hangar is constructed for Mercy Flight, and an eight-bay T-hangar is built, both receiving $300,000 in grants from New York State.
2006: The FAA provided $669,750 to rehabilitate the east end of the old runway and two taxiways.
2005: As part of a $5 million multi-year expansion of the airport, the runway is extended to 5,500 feet from 4,400. The $2.9 million extension project allows the airport to handle medium-sized business jets and, in an emergency, even a 737.
2004: To accommodate the runway expansion, a 3,500-foot section of State Street Road is rerouted. The project costs $457,000.
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Source: Daily News archives, airport annual reports.
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