Aviation Business Journal 1st Quarter 2013 - 21

Walk a Mile in My Shoes
Continued from page 19

Assurance 24. Fee and Rental Structure
This assurance states that the sponsor “will maintain a
fee and rental structure for the facilities and services at the
airport which will make the airport as self-sustaining as
possible under the circumstances existing at the particular
airport…”
Order 6B states:
“Federal law… requires that the rates, rentals,
landing fees, and other charges that airports impose
on aeronautical users for aeronautical use be fair
and reasonable.” [Order 6B, 18.5.a.] and “Sponsors
are directed by the FAA to assess fair market value
rent for all leases.” [Order 6B, Exhibit A.m.] and “The
sponsor must impose the same rates, fees, rentals,
and other charges on similarly situated… FBOs… that
use the airport and its facilities in the same or similar
manner. However, FBOs under different types of
sponsor agreements may have different fees and
rentals.” [Order 6B, 9.2.c.]

services, and facilities are being provided to the public.
There is also an expectation (almost a given, perhaps) that
an airport will be operated and managed in a safe, secure,
and efficient manner.
When doing business with sponsors, it is equally important
to keep these two key “underlying” responsibilities – fiduciary
and customer service – in mind.
Aviation Management Consulting Group, Inc. specializes
exclusively in the general aviation segment of the
industry. The firm provides a full range of aviation
management consulting services to aviation businesses,
airports, and others having an interest in general
aviation. Paul A. Meyers can be reached at (303) 7922700 or via e-mail at pmeyers@aviationmanagement.com.
Additional information is available on the firm’s website
(www.aviationmanagement.com.)

Sponsors may also adopt a leasing/rents and fees policy
to help maintain compliance with the assurances. A wellwritten policy sets forth the parameters for leasing land and/
or improvements and outlines the process for setting and
adjusting rents and fees. Such a policy can help ensure that
airport property is leased in a consistent (objective, uniform,
and not unjustly discriminatory) manner and that rents and
fees are established and adjusted in a timely fashion without
undue influence.

Airport Fiduciary and Customer Service
Responsibilities
Beyond complying with laws, regulations, obligations,
and guidance and working within a complicated framework
of planning, development, operation, management,
financial, and legal parameters, there is an expectation that
an airport will be developed, operated, and managed as a
public enterprise and that sponsors will demonstrate good
stewardship by: identifying the assets (including land and/or
improvements) that are/will be required to meet the needs
of the public; obtaining and investing capital in the assets
identified; making the highest and best use of the assets;
and meeting needs of the public by providing quality airport
infrastructure and improvements and ensuring (oftentimes,
by relying on businesses) that quality aviation products,

Aviation Business Journal | 1st Quarter 2013	

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Aviation Business Journal 1st Quarter 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aviation Business Journal 1st Quarter 2013
