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Flagstaff Airport seeks fee changes and hangar capacity to reduce general‑fund support
Summary
Airport staff presented detailed fee and lease proposals at the retreat, including a consultant‑led aeronautical fee study, potential landing‑fee and storage‑rate adjustments, parking changes, and options for building or enabling private hangar development to address a structural shortfall.
At the Feb. 14 budget retreat, airport leadership told council the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport’s enterprise fund is not fully covering ongoing operational and maintenance costs and outlined a series of fee, lease and development options intended to reduce the airport’s reliance on general‑fund support.
“Now that revenue is used to fund things like, airfield maintenance of both our pavement and our facilities, our airport operations and firefighting,” said Bridal Gull, director of Flagstaff Airport, describing the airport’s portfolio of responsibilities. Gull told council the airport’s base budget for major airfield pavement maintenance and lighting is small relative to the airport’s pavement network and that recent facilities assessments show multi‑million‑dollar needs.
Airport staff proposed two tracks for fee review. For aeronautical fees (aircraft storage, landing fees and fuel flowage), staff proposed hiring a consultant to benchmark similar western regional airports and to create an FAA‑ready analysis showing fees are “fair and reasonable,” which the FAA requires when airports collect aeronautical fees tied to federal grant assurances. Gull said the airport currently charges landing fees only to signatory carriers and noted that aircraft‑weight‑based fees under the current schedule yield modest per‑flight revenue (example cited: roughly $70 for a 67,000‑pound regional jet under the city’s current rate).
For non‑aeronautical fees, airport staff proposed in‑house changes that could be implemented more quickly. Those include revising paid‑parking rates and introducing a monthly permit, adding a lost‑ticket fee, and beginning to recover badge issuance and background‑check costs for tenants. Staff also outlined options to increase hangar capacity — either through city‑owned construction or private development — noting a wait list of roughly 80–100 aircraft seeking storage at city facilities.
Councilors raised the idea of an optional carbon offset or voluntary passenger surcharge to fund sustainability projects; sustainability staff and airport staff said they would explore voluntary offset program designs that could channel funds to local sustainability investments.
Airport leadership asked council to approve consultant funding to complete an aeronautical fee study and said staff would bring specific rate proposals for council review once that benchmarking and FAA compliance analysis is complete.
