‘Getting productive, positive relationships with developers who build hangars and bring the right kind of development is very important to the self sufficiency and survival of airports,’ says Pete Drinkwater, director of airports for San Diego County. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

Corporate travel is back to its pre-Sept. 11 levels. A new breed of microjets is expected to redefine the charter and airtaxi market. Time-conscious executives and others are fed up with congested roadways and security waits for commercial airlines, and place an increasing value on flexibility and convenience. The indicators are wide-ranging, but they all point to an upswing in aviation-related business, especially for San Diego’s regional general aviation airports.

Working to meet this demand, and a more amenity-conscious clientele, San Diego’s commercial aviation industry is in the midst of a marked transformation. Leading the pack is the county-run Palomar-McClellan Airport in Carlsbad, where the focus is on modernizing and improving safety and efficiency of operations. A main component is the construction of a new 24,000-square-foot terminal. Bidding is expected to open soon with an estimated completion date of November 2008.

To make room for the expansion, the county is tearing down buildings that fail to meet Carlsbad building codes. In addition, parking lots are being relocated and specific areas for both smaller aircraft and larger aircraft are being created. The upgrades to the passenger terminal include a new restaurant, concession shops, better gates and more parking for commuter airplanes.

The county’s pending upgrades fit well with private sector improvements at the airport. Three of the four private, fixed-based operators (FBOs) at Palomar have either recently completed major upgrades or are nearly finished.

Pete Drinkwater, the county’s director of airports, compares the spurt of building activity to that of any other commercial development: certain infrastructure must be in place for individual companies to do business. All the work is paid exclusively with airport revenue.

“We operate under an enterprise fund so every dime we spend we have to earn,” says Drinkwater. “So getting productive, positive relationships with developers who build hangars and bring the right kind of development is very important to the self sufficiency and survival of airports.”

The county is putting $10 million into the project, leveraging it with $15 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration. Another $100 million is being invested by the private sector.

Magellan Aviation, an FBO at Palomar-McClellan for 10 years, starts construction this month on its first phase of upgrades. By November it expects to complete five hangars and five small office buildings on the eastern and western portions of its property. As soon as the building pads are complete, possibly in July, the company will tear down an existing building to make way for four large hangars, two smaller offices, and one office building facing the runway suitable for servicing either visiting or based aircraft.

Construction is expected to start soon on a 24,000-square-foot terminal at Palomar-McClellan Airport in Carlsbad. Estimated completion is November 2008.

Overall, the combination of new individual and community hangars will add an additional 19 to 30 spaces for aircraft parking.

Robert Levine, director of Magellan Aviation, says the development plan took into consideration projections for “an enormously rosy picture” in the business aviation market as surveyed by industry leaders Rolls Royce and Honeywell.

With this in mind, Magellan, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Southern California industrial property company known as the Magellan Group Inc., designed hangars to fit specific aircraft, both already in existence and coming into production. Hangars start at 1,832 square feet for a small, individual hangar and range up to almost 30,000 square feet for the community hangars. The largest individual hangar, at nearly 15,000 square feet, is sized to fit a Gulfstream 5 jet.

“Our hangars have been designed to fit aircraft efficiently. There’s not a lot of wasted space,” says Levine.

“Designed to fit” is both a marketing strategy for Magellan and a response to a trend that doesn’t show any signs of slowing.

“What’s happened at Palomar over the past 10 years is an airport once used by smaller aircraft for personal use is being transformed more and more into a business aviation airport suitable for business and corporate users,” says Levine.

The county operates eight airports overall, and while Palomar may appear to be largest because of the size of aircraft that use it, Gillespie Field in El Cajon eclipses it in term of total airport operations. While Palomar had slightly more than 200,000 operations in 2006, Gillespie posted more than 280,000, making it the busiest airport in the county, including Lindbergh Field. Gillespie’s operation count benefits from its high number of flight schools which are seeing a business upswing, especially from foreign students.

In terms of airport growth, a 70-acre land parcel that was formerly the Cajon Speedway will provide enough room to meet the FAA forecast for aviation demand in the region through 2025 to 2030. Of that property, 15 acres is being set aside for infrastructure and 55 acres for aviation uses. By next year the environmental impact report and public comment should be completed and the county can move forward on development. Drinkwater expects $8 million in infrastructure improvements will draw $23 million in private aviation development spending.

Pamela Hamlett, marketing director for Jet Air Systems, says the airline is aggressively marketing its Gillespie Field services and improvements at the El Cajon airport. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

The county already is building a new $2.6 million transient ramp. That work follows a $3.2 million runway rehabilitation project completed in November. The work increased the displaced threshold, which increased the length of the runway. That in turn opened up new opportunities at the airport to handle larger aircraft, a move already benefitting Jet Air Systems, an FBO. With the change, Jet Air was able to add to its charter fleet a Falcon 50, an aircraft capable of flying to New York without refueling.

Jet Air is now aggressively marketing its Gillespie Field services both for the improvements and as an alternative to Palomar-McClellan because Gillespie is both closer to Downtown and near highways that are freer of automobile congestion. “You’ll find everything the top-notch FBOs have at Carlsbad, but we’re located in a better spot,” says marketing director Pamela Hamlett.

Busy Montgomery’s Long Look Ahead

While Palomar and Gillespie are moving forward with sizable projects, San Diego’s most centrally located airport, Montgomery Field, is taking much smaller steps. Heading the effort is Mike Tussey, the city’s deputy director who took over managing both Montgomery and Brown Field during a time of extreme turbulence for both the airports division and the city in general. Although there is work being done toward long-range plans, the immediate concern has been getting the division back on track and focusing on maintenance and safety issues.

The bulk of money spent on airport projects is typically funded by FAA grants, but the city is putting out $250,000 of its own money for runway repairs at each airport. Tussey says his division is looking at FAA grants of $500,000 and $1.3 million for design and construction, respectively, for more runway improvements at Montgomery.

An $80,000 environmental study project is under way at Montgomery that may lead to a land swap. Within the airport’s boundaries lie parcels of land designated as a Multiple Habitat Protection Area by the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife. Tussey says some of that designated land doesn’t appear to meet the criteria for MHPA, while other areas not included do. The city is working on a complete boundary adjustment, in addition to what Tussey is calling a mini-boundary adjustment to swap out the most pressing parcels first. If the city gets the green light, the airport will relocate the area used by fire rescue to the western perimeter adjacent to the police helicopter operations. The move would give the two agencies joint use of the helicopter landing and takeoff area. The area vacated by the fire department will be redeveloped to attract a private helicopter FBO.

Although Montgomery Field has long been in the top 20 list of the busiest airports in the United States (in an annual survey published by Airport Journals), it was recently surpassed by Gillespie Field in terms of number of operations. Even if the entire boundary adjustment is approved and more land becomes available at Montgomery Field to develop, growth options are limited. The runway can accommodate a maximum of 20,000 pounds at takeoff, which places constraints on the sizes of aircraft able to use the airport. Still, as new-category VLJs (very light jets) hit the market, the impact on the mix of operations at Montgomery, as well as other airports, could be sizable. With its attractive central city location, Montgomery Field may experience significant aviation growth.

While Montgomery Field has been in the media spotlight recently because of the Sunroad building height controversy, Tussey says no matter how the issue is resolved it won’t affect his day-to-day operations or future development plans. The issue is over airspace, which ultimately belongs to the FAA, although Tussey is following the matter closely because his primary concern is the safety of the airport and those who use it.

Brown Diamond

The city’s second airport has long been called a “diamond in the rough” by Buzz Fink, chairman of the city’s Airport Advisory Committee. He and other aviators are looking at the city’s plan to jumpstart development at Brown Field with extreme interest, as well as confidence.

“We’re in a better position now than I’ve seen in the past 15 years,” says Fink.

At the beginning of the year, Mayor Jerry Sanders unveiled plans to open two parcels of land, totaling 65 acres, for development. Responses to the Request For Qualifications are in and the city will begin reviewing them this month.

Companies submitting completed RFQs were Airport Property Corp., American Airports Corp., Distinctive Projects Co. Inc., Jimsair & San Diego Air and Space Museum, and Square One Development Inc. The top selections — it may be all of them — will be invited to respond to the RFP once it’s approved by the City Council’s land use and housing committee.

While tenants at Brown Field are supportive of development, they do so with with cautious optimism, mixed with concern, about their potential new neighbors.

“The trend shows that operations at the airport haven’t increased overall,” says Tom Ricotta, owner and general manager of San Diego Jet Center by Lancair, FBO at Brown. It’s a personal standpoint, he admits, but “it doesn’t really seem like a benefit to the overall scheme of things if someone just comes in here to split the existing business.”

Brown Field continues to be a transient airport. Most planes stop there en route from other places, mostly to clear customs upon return from Mexico. In its five years of operations, Lancair has seen growth, but not in terms of aircraft coming through. Rather, Ricotta says the company is doing a better job of getting people to spend their money once they have landed at Brown.

“The way I feel about it is that they should look for a tenant who will increase the overall revenues at the airport,” says Ricotta.

Tussey says the city’s RFQ was specifically for aviation use, but left open the type of aviation development.

“The mayor wants to show that the political will is there,” he says.

Talk has been abundant in the past, but this time does seem different for Larry Rothrock, president of the Experimental Aircraft Association, which has leased space at Brown Field for about 25 years. The turning point that he and others cite was the visit by Sanders and Councilwoman Donna Frye during the last mayoral campaign.

“We talked about development opportunity down here at Brown Field,” says Rothrock. “That appears to have caught on because Sanders and his people appear to be serious about development.”

Rothrock, like Ricotta, is eager for growth as well as concerned about what direction that will mean for the airport. He is leading a group of tenants in developing their own master plan for Brown Field, promoting their vision of what mix of businesses will work.

With the city waiting for an FAA grant of $500,000 to fund a master plan for Brown Field, Tussey says he’s appreciative of the work the tenants want to do now.

“The one thing that Mayor Sanders has done is to seek the inclusion of the citizens and seek it early on,” he says. “I can’t say that every single idea will be incorporated, but we are interested and if they didn’t give it to us, we’d be asking them for it.”

In the meantime, Brown Field is moving forward with an extensive electrical rehabilitation project funded by FAA grants. The two-phase project began in March and is expected to cost about $4.5 million. Perhaps efforts like this will mean that one day the southern portion of San Diego County will experience the same kind of commercial aviation success as its counterparts throughout the region.