AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024 - 78

" I've delivered on my promises; it's a safe airport. Everything works and we're
welcoming people who support aviation. " -Robert DeLaurentis
paying fees. I felt like we had to reestablish,
get a little more respect for the
airport, and clean it up and change the
energy, because it was kind of in a dark
place, " DeLaurentis said. " The very first
thing we did is got the fuel tanks out of
the ground. They were the oldest in the
state of Washington. They were 35 years
old and people thought they were leaking.
So, the second day of ownership, we
pulled them out. "
Skin in the game
DeLaurentis wasted no time starting in
on his project. Luckily, the tanks were
not leaking so that first stroke of good luck
was followed by six months of exhausting
clean-up and renovation.
" We removed 70 cubic yards of trash,
three rusted out vehicles, two trashed airplanes.
It [the airport] was really like an
old bone nobody wanted until I picked it
up. And then the fighting started, and we
had a few battles to win before we could
take the airport under our control and
start making changes, " he said. " Not everybody
is open to change. But I think now
they have seen how it's turned out and I
think we have a lot of support now. "
Native local pilot Skip Boyer, who took
AOPA staff flying out of the airport over
Whidbey Island, embraced DeLaurentis's
vision. A paving contractor, he has spearheaded
the expansion and widening of
the runway, which was completed in late
September. " He's done a lot for our flying
community, " Boyer said. " And I'm glad;
there's not much better flying than here
in the San Juans. "
For the past year, a team of volunteers
has transformed the airport. There
are new hangars, new offices, a proposed
aviation museum, the expanded and
paved new 60-foot-wide runway, and
plans to develop an additional 40 acres.
" I've spoken to the Washington State
Department of Transportation, and we
talked about an eVTOL hub for urban
air mobility aircraft because we are so
close to Seattle. We are not here to make
money, we are a not for profit, so we are
not going to build houses; that's what
I've said from the very beginning.
" And then we have tried to make
everything safe; that included getting the
navigation systems at the airport, working
lights, security cameras, runway cameras,
hauling the debris away, and changing the
feel of the airport. "
He's been criticized for implementing
a landing fee at this privately
owned, public-use airport. Using a system
called PlanePass, a purpose-built
aircraft billing system from Vector
Support Systems, DeLaurentis charges
a $20 landing fee.
" I think people are used to getting
airports for free and that's mainly
because they are funded by the state,
the feds, or the FAA. In this case it's an
airport that is privately owned and privately
funded. We want to have people
78
AOPA PILOT / December 2024
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2024

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