Can The St. Augustine Airport Authority find a way through challenges? (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — More than a year after the collapse of a deal to bring new commercial air service to the Northeast Florida Regional Airport, yet another person found themselves in the chair of the executive director position for the St. Johns County Airport Authority. The shuffling of executive directors has been like a chain reaction since the collapse of a deal with Avelo Airlines and the airport authority. The board chose to not renew the contract of then-Executive Director Ed Wuellner last year, and the two following executive directors both resigned less than a year into the job.
Airport authority board members appointed the latest interim executive director during a meeting in May.
At that meeting, Courtney Pittman, the interim executive director, said he would chart a new path for the airport during the meeting.
“Some might be here to see if I’m going to fall. Some might be here to see if we don’t get it together,” Pittman said. “But I promise you, under my leadership, we won’t fall because we’re going to move into a new direction. We have plans. We have ideas. We’re not going to do it the old way.”
But the airport authority board members have been charting a different path for the airport over quite some time – with the halting of the commercial airline deal last year being the first sign of a new set of priorities.
The board’s focus has shifted toward moving forward with land development and construction of new hangar space, while commercial air service has taken a back seat.
While many projects to develop the airport authority’s prime real estate are moving forward, a string of resignations and companies pushing back on the authority’s actions have put a damper on recent successes. And other potential consequences may lie ahead because of the authority’s shift in direction.
The rift fromcommercial air service
The change in attitude toward commercial air service was clear when the airport authority board stopped a deal with Avelo Airlines in its tracks.
Avelo was eager to enter an agreement with the authority in February 2023, but the tentative deal careened off the rails after the authority pumped the brakes on approving the terms.
The board members halted the deal after complaining they knew nothing of the proposed terms with Avelo. They also chose not to renew Wuellner’s contract as executive director, and he was removed from the position.
The authority members said they weren’t closing the door on the deal; stating it needed more time to review the plan.
But Avelo was not going to wait. The airline had wanted to make an announcement in March and start service in June. Other cities were eager to cater to Avelo, and soon the airline took its business elsewhere.
The door remains open to commercial airlines at the St. Augustine airport, according to authority board members.
But Avelo wouldn’t even pick up the phone, said Jamie Topp, the executive director at the time, when he called the airline months after the deal was rejected. No other deals have surfaced since then.
Not everyone in the local aviation community was upset that the deal was called off, however.
Jose Riera, a local pilot and airport liaison for the St. Augustine Airport Pilots Association, said it was an important move to improve the state of general aviation in St. Johns County.
The St. Augustine Airport Pilots Association mission is “to promote, preserve and protect the interests of the general aviation community at St. Augustine airport,” according to its website.
Riera said that the current board’s focus on land development has been a long-needed necessity to move forward on urgent maintenance at the airport and to find a way to construct more hangar space. The hangar space is vital, as Riera said the wait for hangar space at the St. Augustine airport can be up to seven years.
“The improvements of the airport, it’s not for the benefits of pilots and the association. The improvement of the airport is for the benefits of the community, because we are able to bring in more revenue with the new hangers,” Riera said. “We’re also able to bring in more revenue with businesses that service the aircrafts, which is lacking right now, I mean, St. Augustine is dismal in services right now.”
He said he sees the rejection of the Avelo deal as a good move by the airport to ensure focus is on general aviation.
“It was beneficial for, really the board, the pilots … no doubt about it because it now freed the board, instead of having to worry about an airliner and FAA grants for the airliner and personnel to handle the baggage and TSA and all this other stuff,” Riera said. “It kind of freed the board from that particular term, so they could now concentrate on seeing, ‘OK, what do we really need to do for general aviation to make this airport better?’ So yes, that kind of freed the board to help them make better decisions.”
New leadership switches direction for airport
With land just a short drive away from the oldest colonial city in the U.S., spanning from the banks of the Tolomato River to woods across U.S. 1, the St. Johns County Airport Authority is tasked with finding ways to develop the property that covers hundreds of acres.
In turn, the authority holds the keys to prime real estate for aviation-support businesses, airlines and tourism. Board member Robert Olson said that the airport is very desirable with its 8,002-foot runway.
“We have an airport people want to do business with and be at,” Olson said. “We’re a very attractive airport, in large part because of our location and the other strengths that we have.”
Board member Dennis Clarke sums up the current authority’s goals as a shift in focus from their predecessors. Developing the land under authority ownership is the priority, rather than pouring all resources toward attracting commercial service.
“I think the vision of the previous administration was, you know, they had all these potential assets in place, but they weren’t using it. They weren’t planning to develop it.
“They were focused almost entirely on putting a commercial service in here,” Clarke said.
Clarke said he’s concerned about the authority having to foot the bill for an airline coming in.
“We have a great terminal … everybody wants commercial service, who doesn’t want to come down to St. Augustine and take off in New York? The problem is unless the airport or the airline is subsidized, they’re not going to come here.”
And Clarke said the competition around the airport is too stiff for the authority to spend that money, with Jacksonville nearby and other airports that have far more frequent service.
“If I want to go to Chicago. I probably have, from Jacksonville, at least six choices right now, daily. If I’m the business guy, I want a daily flight,” Clarke said. “I don’t want one, two flights a month or a week, and so the economics just don’t work out. We’re not of the mind to subsidize anybody. If you want to come in and rent it, it’s wide open.
“It’s been wide open as long as I’ve been here. And so far we haven’t had any takers.”
The current members of the board have shifted away from the goals of past leadership, Riera said.
Many on the board come from aviation backgrounds. Jennifer Liotta is the vice president of legal for Volato. Reba Ludlow was the president of the St. Augustine Airport Pilots Association. Clarke said he had partial ownership of a plane that was moved to St. Augustine five years ago.
Following the rejection of the Avelo deal, the airport has entered successful deals with aviation-related businesses on its property.
Banyan Air Service, an aircraft service provider, expanded to the St. Augustine airport in January, with five aviation maintenance technicians working there.
In April, the airport authority took steps that could lead to construction of new hangar space for Volato, a charter flight service, which operates more than 25 HondaJet aircraft out of the St. Augustine airport.
Banyan Air Service would likely do maintenance, repair and overhaul work on Volato’s HondaJets in that space.The airport authority also started the process of acquiring 25 acres of land from the adjoining St. Augustine Rod & Gun Club for more than $2.1 million, entering an agreement to follow a strict protocol over the placement of certain projects on the land.
What’s in store for the future
The consequences of ditching a deal for commercial air service can create a detriment toward bringing in a crucial asset for local tourism, the leader of the county’s visitors and convention bureau said.
Susan Phillips, the president and CEO of the St. Johns County visitors and convention bureau, said that airlines don’t take well to airports abruptly swiping away a deal. She was also a candidate for the airport authority during the last election.
“So that’s a little bit of a stigma in the industry, and I can say that having come from the industry to where if you say no, then it’s hard to get that next person to look at you,” Phillips said. “But what does happen is, if you get a good carrier in here, a good airline service, then suddenly others want to know what’s going on, they’re interested in you, too.”
Phillips said she has worked in marketing and sales for Delta Airlines and for other regional tourism and aviation organizations.
In addition, Phillips said she believes Avelo certainly spoke with other airlines, which could hamper St. Augustine’s long-term plans for tourism and growth.
The door’s open to future commercial airline service, Liotta said. The Avelo deal was not accepted as the board wanted to take more time to review the potential agreement, as the airport’s counsel pointed out several issues with the contract.
But the airport authority needs to focus on short-term needs, such as staffing and improving succession planning as of now, she said.
During the same meeting of Pittman’s appointment, Matt Liotta, the husband of Jennifer Liotta and CEO of Volato, a private charter service that uses the airport, told the board during a meeting that not a lot has improved as the authority was again tasked with appointing a new interim executive director.
“I hope that we’ll all take this as an opportunity to learn from the mistakes and not repeat them. A good friend of mine likes to say ‘don’t repeat the same mistake thrice. So you’re now up to two,’ ” Matt Liotta said. “With that being said, I’d like to tell what I’ve told some of you individually. I think it’s high time that this airport recognizes the past and the way to solve for the future and recognize that it’s time to get past this mismanagement and the lack of resources here that are sorely needed.”
Photo courtesy of the St. Augustine Airport