TTF Fees Jump 900%, Runway Access Blocked By Tractor

What's it worth to have access to a municipal airport runway for tenants of your private hangar? There appears to be a considerable difference of opinion on that question between a private hangar business called the Taildragger Inn, and the landlord, the town council which administers the Hammonton Airport in New Jersey. A dramatic escalation in the gate fee has the hangar owner balking, so on September 3, the town blocked his runway access with a parked tractor.

The Press of Atlantic City reports the tenants say the city charged $100 per month for runway access going back to at least 1992, but is now suddenly demanding $1,000 a month. The city also got the FAA to close the aerobatic practice box over the airport on August 22, following a mid-air collision which produced one fatality.

Airport officials tell The Press the stunt pilots who use the aerobatic box have become a liability as the facility grows and tries to attract commercial flights. Joseph Flood, who operates an airplane restoration shop housed in the Taildragger Inn, is puzzled by that claim, noting the number of aircraft based at the airport has dropped from 50 to 14 over the last decade.

Barry Straga, who owns the private hangar, says he's confident the problems can be ironed out in the next week. Flood certainly hopes so. He says of the blockage by the tractor, "I’m out of business. How can I operate if I can’t get airplanes in and out?"

FMI: www.townofhammonton.org