The actions by the City
of San Diego to refuse the renewal of Gibbs Flying Service’s
airport lease at Montgomery Field has prompted the National Transportation Association (NATA)
to write to the San Diego City Council.
An NATA member company, Gibbs has been at the Montgomery Field
airport for 68 years, actually running the airport for the first
11. Their last 35-year lease expires at the end of May and is
not being renewed, despite Gibbs running a business in good
standing at their location for almost 70 years, providing hangar
space, a flight school, fuel and other services to hundreds of
small-aircraft owners. Further, Gibbs is not being given the option
of submitting an RFP for renewing of their lease and rather the
airport is taking over the property to provide aviation services at
the airport.
Gibbs would be
receptive to the option, offered by the Real Estate Division, of
providing fueling and positioning services until an RFP is issued,
in order to maintain a rightful presence, but not if an RFP will
never be issued.
“Gibbs Flying Service represents a significant rental
income to the city, and it appears that the city wants that income
without providing for the amenities and services needed by the
tenants of Montgomery Field,” stated Eric R. Byer, NATA vice
president of government and industry affairs. “We are
extremely disappointed in how the City of San Diego is handling the
issue and have concerns regarding their leasing
practices.”
NATA has asked the City Council to stay the Gibbs Flying Service
lease termination so an RFP can be issued and the Airport Division
can compete equally with other responders to improve, provide the
services of, and manage the facility.
The association strongly encourages the use of an RFP for
available land at an airport, as it gives the airport operator a
fair and open process of selecting the best business to operate
that available property. NATA believes that even if the
airport intends to run the services from the property in question,
aviation service businesses, including Gibbs Flying Service, should
be given the fair opportunity to apply to offer those
services.
While the property rightly belongs to the airport operator and
an airport has the right to offer the aeronautical services itself
if it so desires, in a competitive aviation market it is best that
professionals offering these services have the opportunity to make
a proposal to begin or continue operating at the airport. Airports
should be discouraged from offering these services to the tenants
themselves, as it is best left to the aeronautical service
professionals.