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Knoxville, Tenn., Airport Authority Hopes Peacemaker Role Will Fly

Posted on: Thursday, 15 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

Sep. 15--The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority decided Wednesday it will try to help fixed-base operator Knox Air Inc. and a group of local pilots settle a dispute over proposed leases at Downtown Island Airport.

Knox Air operates the South Knoxville airport, and the East Tennessee General Aviation Pilots are objecting to terms of a new lease plan, especially regarding insurance. The leases are to allow the pilots to park their aircraft at the small airport.

The airport authority in June gave the two sides 90 days to settle their differences, and each has hired a lawyer. But the two told the authority's board Wednesday that they still are in disagreement.

Airport Authority spokeswoman Becky Huckaby said Knox Air wants to attract more business aircraft to the airport while not turning away the mostly recreational pilots on the other side of the table.

The pilots, she said, are complaining that the proposed insurance requirements for parking vehicles at the airport are too high.

The authority staff will meet with the two sides before the end of the month to try resolving the issues. Then, the authority will hold a called meeting on Sept. 29 or Sept. 30 to decide whether to continue its operating agreement with Knox Air to run Downtown Island.

Knox Air's contract at Downtown Island expires Dec. 31 and is due for a nine-month renewal. Huckaby said the airport authority staff decides whether to renew the operating agreement.

Knox Air was a fixed-base operator at McGhee Tyson Airport, too, but sold its interest to out-of-state company TACAir in April. It continues to operate Downtown Island under a separate contract with the airport authority.

In other action, the board approved a $13.5 million contract with Knoxville construction company Phillips & Jordan Inc. to prepare a site for development in the west aviation area of McGhee Tyson. It is Phillips & Jordan's second bid to excavate the site for maintenance hangars and cargo buildings. The first bid was about $12 million, but was increased because of higher fuel costs, according to the board's consultant.

Board member Richard Krieg said the authority's bid process causes concern because Phillips & Jordan was the job's only bidder. He noted it is not the first time the board has approved contracts with only one bidder.

"Every time we have one bidder, we have to swallow hard to do the job," Krieg said. "We need to find out why we're only getting one bid. We get nailed every time we do it."

Meanwhile, the airport set another record for passenger traffic in August with 159,252 passengers, a 14 percent increase over the same month last year. It was the 20th consecutive month of growth and the ninth consecutive monthly record. For the year to date, passenger traffic is up 23 percent, with McGhee Tyson seeing 1,850,000 passengers.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.

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Source: The Knoxville News-Sentinel

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