Stowe Aviation Vacates Its Coop At Stowe-Morrisville State Airport

In mid-April 2022 Stowe Aviation, the lone Fixed Base Operator (FBO) providing light maintenance, fuel, and other services at the Stowe-Morrisville State Airport (KMVL) in Vermont had vacated the premises after it failed to receive what it believed were good faith promises by the state to develop and expand airport operations. 

The lack of fuel at KMVL was not Stowe Aviation’s fault, but a side-effect of the state’s removal of the fuel farm in the summer of 2021 to facilitate runway upgrades.  Due to the now commonplace ‘supply chain issues’, the state is hoping to have a new fuel farm installed in summer of 2022.  Until then, those seeking to hydrate their winged chariots must travel 20nm south to the Edward Knapp Airport (KMPV).

While KMVL is state owned, Stowe Aviation was taking care of day-to-day operations typically handled by a FBO.  Sources indicate that Stowe Aviation did not wish to leave the aviation community in the lurch, but instead wished to transfer its lease and operations to one of its investors to continue running the airport.  Instead, the state chose to open a formal request for proposal (RFP), which created a fog of uncertainty but offered an opportunity for transparency and perhaps fiscal responsibility.  With 10 prospective parties in the running, Vermont hopes to have an operator at KMVL by the end of June 2022.

Stowe Aviation indicated that the state had made big promises regarding EB5 investment and that it turned out to be a fraud.  Circa 2017, Stowe Aviation separated itself from Vermont’s EB-5 Regional Center following fallout from federal regulators filing 52 counts of securities fraud involving an EB-5 investor and a local resort. 

To the uninitiated, EB-5 (the 5th category of Employment Based visa) is the child that was birthed from an immigration bill passed by congress in 1990 wherein foreign investors can get these ‘special visas’ by investing a significant amount of capital ($500,000 and up) to finance infrastructure projects and creating at least 10 jobs in the United States.  The government sees ‘easy money’ and ‘more jobs’ through infrastructure projects; foreign investors get to fast-track US citizenship for permanent residency, skipping the customary immigration procedures. 

FMI: https://vtrans.vermont.gov/aviation/airports/morrisville-stowe