Renton airport business owner urges council to delay new commercial lease, raises fuel pricing and sustainability concerns

John Leonard, who identified himself as owner of Best for Aviation at Renton Municipal Airport, asked the council to table approval of a proposed commercial lease for the airport and to evaluate competing proposals and the city’s leasing process.

"We invested $1,200,000 in good faith with no reciprocal benefit from the city in the last year or two," Leonard said, describing aging facilities at his operation and urging careful review of a new commercial lease request. He asked the council to consider an alternate proposal presented earlier that guarantees discounted fuel pricing tied to adjacent airports and would support introducing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at Renton.

"If the proposal is approved tonight without additional due diligence consideration, the Best for Aviation business will be materially hurt to the point where we will still need to entertain layoffs," Leonard said, adding that SAF requires a financially healthy fixed-base operator because of higher fuel costs.

Leonard requested the city ensure the new lease follows the same vetting process used previously, including third-party review, a detailed business plan and demonstrated operator experience.

During the meeting, council members and the Transportation Aviation Committee noted that the month-to-month premises lease under consideration was intended as a short-term arrangement while a separate, full RFP process for fueling operations would address pricing and sustainability proposals. The committee chair and a council member indicated that public comments on alternative proposals could be considered during the future RFP.