Florida Management Group Wants to Run Youngstown, Ohio-Area Airport

Dec. 16--HOWLAND -- One day after receiving a threat of being sued by one of its service providers, Western Reserve Port Authority board listened to a pitch from a Florida management group on why it should run Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.

An eight-page letter from ReadyAir, which provides hangar space for aircraft and ground services such as fueling and de-icing at the airport, threatened the port authority with legal action if it doesn't address unfair treatment ReadyAir says it receives from the port authority.

ReadyAir is run by Robert T. Moosally and has provided airport services for about two years. The company says the port authority has violated a number of provisions of Federal Aviation Administration rules that insist on parity between service providers operating at an airport.

Moosally wrote that conditions have not been equal between his company and Winner Aviation from the beginning of ReadyAir's time at the airport, and that the 10-year contract with Winner that the port authority authorized at its last meeting "fails to even address the issue of parity."

Moosally objects to contract provisions that allow Winner to get a 5 percent discount on its rent that ReadyAir was never given and exclusive right to park aircraft in certain areas.

It says these spaces are "the most prime space available on the general aviation ramp, and the use of such a space grant a distinct advantage to the user over the other operator."

Steve Bowser, director of aviation for the airport, said the company has made similar threats in the past every time the authority gets tough with the company about paying its rent.

Bowser said ReadyAir currently owes the authority $15,000 for three months worth of back rent and fees. He said the authority sent ReadyAir a letter of cancellation on Nov. 21, threatening to evict the company.

Chad Quinn, who attended Thursday's meeting at Avalon Inn to represent ReadyAir, said the money owed is in an escrow account. He said the company told the authority the money will be held there until the authority addresses its concerns.

Rick Hale, president and CEO of Winner, said the authority felt that having competition between Winner and ReadyAir would be good for the airport, but he now feels it has been a failed experiment.

He said his company has been at the facility 11 years, most of it as the only provider of fuel and other services, and that the airport operated for many years before that with just one such provider.

Though ReadyAir in the letter accuses Winner of driving out business from the airport, Hale says his company provides great service and its customers "love us," even though its costs are higher than at some larger airports because of the lower volume of business at the local facility.

Meanwhile, the port authority met with TBI, a British company that operates the Orlando-Sanford International Airport among many airports it owns and operates around the world.

It was the second company that has made a presentation to the port authority seeking to manage the facility. Bowser said the first one was American Airports, which made its presentation early last year. That firm is from Santa Monica, Calif.

Bowser said five businesses responded to the authority's request last spring for management companies to make presentations to the port authority. He said he didn't know if there were any other companies likely to make presentations and said he didn't want to discuss the merits of TBI's presentation.

<>

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.