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Airport director reports flight school closure and unveils first month of operations data
Summary
Airport staff told the board that Blue Sky Flight School plans to close next month and presented the first partial month of operations tracking data, which the FAA accepts for some reporting purposes; staff will clarify go-around and touch-and-go classifications.
The airport director reported Feb. 11 that Matt Cole, owner of Blue Sky Flight School, intends to close the flight school next month, citing rising insurance costs and a shortage of designated pilot examiners (DPEs). The director said Cole plans to retain his hangar for personal recreational use unless he decides to sell; staff encouraged Cole to contact the airport before a sale so they can seek another business tenant.
In the director's operations report, staff presented the first month of data from a new airport operations tracking system. Staff said the system began collecting data on Jan. 8 and that the partial-month report includes 656 landings, 724 takeoffs, 204 go-arounds and overflights, and a total of 1,380 operations during the reporting period. The director calculated a daily average of about 63 operations for the period reported and said staff expects higher averages in clearer, warmer months.
Board members asked whether the FAA accepts these data for reporting and planning. Staff said the FAA does accept similar ADS-B-based and other automated counts in some cases and gave examples of other airports that used the system to support requests. Board members raised questions about the 204 figure for "go-arounds and overflights," asking whether that number mixes pilot training touch-and-go operations with go-arounds that indicate an aborted landing; staff said they will follow up with the system vendor to clarify how the system distinguishes go-arounds, touch-and-goes and overflights and whether touch-and-go training operations are being classified separately in later processing.
The director also reported on near-complete phase one camera upgrades, a forthcoming camera on the beacon, a planned UAV-assisted survey of a portion of the airport fence that will require short runway closures and issuance of NOTAMs, and attendance at an FAA partnership conference later in February. Staff said they will provide more complete operations data when a full month of records is available and will return with answers to questions about the go-around categorization and additional category breakdowns for military or other aircraft types.
The board noted the loss of the flight school as a concern for local pilot training capacity and asked staff to keep the board informed about any potential buyer for the hangar.
