Syracuse airplane owners to build members-only facility at Hancock airport

Syracuse-Jet-Rendering.JPG

This rendering shows the proposed Syracuse Jet Association facility to be built at Syracuse Hancock International Airport.

(Photo by Courtesy of QPK Design)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A small group of Central New York airplane owners plans to build a $6 million members-only hangar and conference center at Syracuse Hancock International Airport this year. The facility would be the first member-owned aviation service in New York state, said Christina Callahan, city aviation commissioner.

Syracuse Jet Association, a club formed last fall, has five members and expects to have at least five more by the time construction starts in the spring, said Ted Perry, the owner of charter operator Metro Air LLC, one of the members. The association's other members are local business leaders whom Perry would not identify. They will finance the construction privately, he said.

The airport facility will provide 40,000 square feet of hangar space and about 10,000 square feet of office and meeting space, all for the use of members, who will own and operate it cooperatively, Perry said.

Before the project can proceed, the city council must vote on a 40-year lease for the five-acre site on Col. Eileen Collins Boulevard, the entrance road to the airport. Under the proposed lease, Syracuse Jet Association would pay $65,000 a year initially, increasing 2 percent per year. The council is expected to review the lease in March, Callahan said.

Mayor Stephanie Miner welcomed the project, the first private development on airport property in more than 10 years. “It is going to inure to the benefit of Central New York in general and Syracuse in particular,’’ she said.

The Syracuse Jet Association facility will be the first building visitors see as they approach the airport, Callahan said. A short taxiway will connect the hangar to airport runways, she said.

The facility will sell fuel to its members, but will not provide any maintenance or de-icing services. For those, members would use Landmark Aviation, the fixed base operator with facilities at the south end of the airport.

Although the new facility is for members only, members can bring guests aboard their planes, Perry said. Since Metro Air is a member, that means it can run charter flights out of the new facility for non-members.

Perry, who bought Metro Air two years ago, said the company mainly serves business customers flying to locations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The company owns one plane, a 5-passenger Piper Navajo, and employs two pilots. The new facility “is going to provide a service that is very beneficial for people that utilize private air service,’’ Perry said.

Syracuse Jet Association hopes to break ground on the building in the spring and begin operations next fall, Perry said. The building will be designed by QPK Design and constructed by Hueber-Breuer Construction Co.

Mike O’Shea, a partner at QPK Design, estimated that the project will provide about 90 temporary construction and related jobs. The facility will have 6 to 9 permanent workers, Perry said.

About 120 private planes are currently based at Hancock airport, Callahan said. Perry said he could not predict how many individuals or companies might eventually join the Syracuse Jet Association.

Airport officials are eager to promote more economic development on the grounds, Callahan said. Lease payments from Syracuse Jet Association will go into the airport enterprise fund, and may help lower airline landing fees, an important factor in trying to lure more airlines to Syracuse, she said.

Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 315-470-3023.

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