New airport service facility opens

The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport now has two service facilities, which leaders said act as front doors to the city for visitors and business prospects.

“For hundreds of thousands of corporate travelers, this will be their first and last impression of our city and region,” Dan Jacobson, chairman of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority, said.

Jacobson joined other local leaders and business people Thursday morning at the grand opening of the airport’s second fixed-base operator, FBO, which is run by Wilson Air Center.

An FBO is a terminal, hangar and fuel facility. It has pumps to fuel cargo and air carriers, but the facilities are mainly used by private and corporate aircraft owners. 

At the celebration, officials said that having two FBOs provide customers with options and provide competition.

TAC Air operates the other FBO at the airport.

Littlefield said that he has heard many complaints about the fuel costs at the existing FBO, which is run by TAC Air, and that having two service facilities will prompt more competitive fuel prices.

“One thing we know in this country is that competition works,” Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield said. “While I wish no ill of the other FBO operator here, for a long time we only had one and that’s not a comfortable position for anyone.”

Littlefield also said that he hopes the opening of the Wilson Air facility will spark TAC Air to do some “new and inspiring things with the properties that they manage.”

But TAC Air spokesman David Edwards had a different perspective on the issue, which has been contentious since the announcement of the Wilson Air FBO.

“I do not think it will cause both operators to be better,” Edwards said. “I think the airport has created a situation where just the opposite could possibly happen.”

He also said that TAC Air’s fuel prices have historically been competitive.

“When you compare TAC Air’s fuel prices to similar airports in the region, we are at or below those price levels.”

Different agreements  
Mike Landguth, president of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority, said that the airport has different agreements with each FBO operator.

The agreement with Wilson is a "management agreement," which means that the airport authority is responsible for all the infrastructure, but Wilson Air manages the service facility, he said.

In the agreement with Wilson, the airport has control over decisions such as fuel prices.

The agreement with TAC Air is a "concession agreement," which means that TAC Air is responsible for the infrastructure and management.  

In the concession agreement, TAC Air keeps all revenue, paying the airport a percentage of its proceeds.

Edwards said his company can compete if it’s a fair situation.

“We are in competition with our landlord,” he said.

     Bob Wilson, president of Wilson Air, said he welcomes the competition from TAC Air and he hopes the operators work together.

“We think we can do it better than them and we are game to try,” he said. “But we want to help them out. Hopefully that will be reciprocated.”

The grand opening
Jacobson said that workers overcame challenges — such as  limited funding, extensive infrastructure requirements and a challenging terrain — when building the new FBO.

“Together, they have scaled a nearly impossible mountain,” he said.

The next challenge is to effectively operate the new service facility, which includes a fueling center and a 9,000-square-foot terminal that includes an office complex and business resources.

 The new FBO also includes a 12,000-square-foot hangar facility.

Jim Berry, CEO of Republic Parking, is the first tenant of the hanger facility and Thursday morning his plane was situated in one corner of a hangar space, which is essentially a open garage to park air crafts.

Berry said that he respects the Wilson family.

“They are good managers of properties they are in control of and that’s really what it’s all about — good customer service,” he said.

Landguth said he witnessed the Wilson-style of customer service on Wednesday, when a pilot was organizing catering for his passengers and requested a specific type of beer.

The FBO staff didn’t have the beer on hand, but someone went to get it.

“She went to 11 different stores to find this speciality-type beer to bring it back and give it to this individual,” he said. “This is the level of service they are providing.”

Littlefield said that in his recent travels, he saw other FBO facilities and became concerned about those in his city.

“We saw that the first impression in many other cities was a better first impression than ours,” he said. “Now, I would have to say we are in the big leagues. We are where we always needed to be. We are a great and growing community and this reflects well, not only on our corporate offerings but on our community in general. Chattanooga is a place to do business.”