Mark Hutton, who has held the Chadron Airport FBO contract since March 2008, told the city council that the cancellation on his contract on short notice wasn’t fair and asked for a short-term extension so he can examine alternatives under a proposed new agreement.
Hutton reported he has been waiting for renewal of the annual agreement since March, but was told it would be on a month-to-month basis. In September he received word of the termination.
Earlier in the month, the city council approved plans for the city’s public works department to take over the maintenance duties at the airport which had been Hutton’s responsibility under the contract.
Hutton’s contract also provided rental space at the airport for airplane repair work, and allowed him to sell fuel to aviators.
The airport operation includes responsibility for meeting a plethora of federal standards, including those governing commercial operator Great Lakes Aviation as well as private aviation enthusiasts, according to Hutton, who says keeping a viable FBO to support private aviation is crucial to the airport.
Hutton asked the council to extend his current contract for three months so he can have time to determine the feasibility of continuing operations under the new proposal, details of which were not revealed at the city council meeting.
