April 11--The air traffic control tower at Lynchburg Regional Airport will not close when federal funding ceases June 15. Instead, it will remain open for up to a year through a short-term plan to tap money from the state usually set aside for capital projects and maintenance, not operational costs.
Because of that plan, however, the airport will face a penalty if it seeks additional state discretionary funding for the next three years, the Virginia Aviation Board ruled at a special meeting in Lynchburg Wednesday.
The eight-member board reached the decision after Airport Director Mark Courtney briefed them on his plans to use state entitlement funds the airport has saved up to keep the tower open for up to a year after federal funding stops.
Lynchburg Regional Airport is one of 149 nationwide slated to lose control towers in mid-June because of sequestration cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration. Of the airports losing towers, Lynchburg is the eighth busiest and the busiest with commercial airline service.
The airport has about $622,000 in entitlement funds -- money airports with carrier service receive from the state based on their enplanement totals -- available for use, Courtney said, plus another $25,000 per month coming in via a passenger facility charge imposed under FAA authority.
According to the latest FAA estimates, Courtney said, the tower will cost about $40,000 per month to remain operational. Projects supported through state entitlement funding usually must have at least a 20 percent local match contribution, meaning the City of Lynchburg would need to chip in about $8,000 per month to keep the tower running.
But Courtney said the airport is exploring options to use 100 percent state money and no local money, so a contribution from the city may not be necessary. Sticking to the usual 80/20 formula was one of the stipulations the airport offered the state aviation board in exchange for waiving the penalty, he said, and since the airport will be penalized now no matter what, new options may be available.
City Council approved local match funding through the end of the current fiscal year, June 30, at its meeting Tuesday night, not the month-to-month funding for up to a year as reported in a story in Wednesday's paper.
If local money is needed going forward, City Manager Kimball Payne said Wednesday the city probably will supply the local match for fiscal year 2014, which starts July 1, through the airport subsidy already in the proposed budget.
"We'll see how we do," Payne said, adding the city could make adjustments as needed, likely around the beginning of the calendar year.
Courtney does not need approval from the Virginia Aviation Board to use the airport's available entitlement funds. But because running an air traffic control tower is not one of the preferred uses for those funds, Lynchburg will face a penalty equal to the amount of entitlement money spent on the tower if the airport seeks additional discretionary funds from the board over the next three years. If the airport does not seek discretionary funds for the next three years, the penalty will expire.
At Wednesday's meeting, Courtney asked the board to waive this penalty, as the situation facing Lynchburg Regional Airport is "unprecedented and extraordinary."
The aviation board voted unanimously -- with one abstention -- to not grant the waiver. Dave Young, who sits on the board and is the dean of the Liberty University School of Aeronautics, abstained.
The meeting's attendees included representatives from Liberty University, Rep. Bob Goodlatte's office and Areva; Del. Scott Garrett; and several pilots and instructors who use the airport regularly.
Courtney, Payne and Lynchburg Regional Chamber President Rex Hammond all addressed the board prior to the vote, emphasizing the importance of Lynchburg Regional Airport as an economic driver for the region and the consequences of losing the tower, including decreased efficiency and the potential loss of U.S. Airways commercial service.
Board Member Richard Franklin told Courtney although he wants to be able to help Lynchburg as part of the board's mission to promote aviation in the commonwealth, the members of the board "love all of our children equally," and need to keep the other 65 Virginia airports in mind.
Several members asked what potential long-term solutions Courtney has in mind beyond this yearlong use of entitlement funding, including the possibility of the city funding the tower.
Courtney said it's premature to speculate on what a permanent solution might be. The goal for now, he said, is to keep the tower open on a temporary basis so either a congressional solution can be found or an alternate plan can be thoroughly vetted and developed.
After the meeting, Courtney said he wasn't too surprised by the board's decision, but added it won't have much of an effect on plans to keep the tower open. The airport still can apply for discretionary funds down the road as needed, he said, it just might receive a little less than asked for.
And, assuming the local match funding comes through as needed for fiscal year 2014, there still will be an air traffic control tower at Lynchburg Regional Airport.
"It doesn't change anything, really," Courtney said of the board's decision. "...It's not a showstopper."
Copyright 2013 - The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.
