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18 Guidebook for Managing Small Airports
rights. When formulating airport leases, use agreements, and minimum standards, airport man-
agement must ensure that policy does not have the effect of excluding others, either intentionally
or unintentionally, from participating in an on-airport aeronautical activity. Language contained
within both the airport minimum standards and operating leases should expressly provide for
nonexclusive rights.
An airport obligated by federal grant assurances must be available to the public and accessible
to those wanting to conduct aeronautical activities on the airport. An airport sponsor should
ensure that an exclusive rights violation does not occur by any means. A monopoly on aeronau-
tical services cannot be created by express agreement or by any other method, including requir-
ing unreasonable minimum standards.
Situations may occur for which it appears that an exclusive right has been granted that does not
constitute an exclusive rights violation. This guide will touch on these exceptions, but airport
sponsors are encouraged to review these situations with the nearest FAA ADO for clarification.
FAA AC 150/5190-5 provides for these exceptions, generally summarized as follows (4):
· The owner of a public-use airport may provide aeronautical services to the public at an air-
port. This proprietary exclusive right may be in the absence of a qualified commercial opera-
tor or when in the best interest of the public. The proprietary exclusive right most often occurs
when a municipality elects to provide fuel service to aircraft.
· At some airports there may be only one aeronautical service operator providing one or all of the
services available. This might occur when only one operator has applied to provide these services
with no competition present. As long as the airport owner allows for the opportunity to offer a
commercial aeronautical activity at the airport, an exclusive rights violation does not exist.
· There may be situations at small airports with minimal space suitable for aeronautical activi-
ties in which a single operator already occupies all available space. An exclusive rights viola-
tion may occur if an airport owner unjustly leases all available space to a single user.
· An airport sponsor may also deny an operator of aeronautical activity the right to operate on
an airport for safety reasons. Restrictions based on safety should be discussed with the local
ADO. The FAA is often the final authority in these matters of compromises of safety.
· Airport owners should not attempt to prohibit aircraft owners the right to self-service. Aircraft
owners are entitled to maintain, fuel, and service their own aircraft subject to reasonable rules and
regulations of the airport.
Rates and Charges
Central to the preparation of all airport lease agreements is the incorporation of rentals and fees
for the use of airport property, equipment, facilities, services, and buildings. Airport managers
must establish rates and charges that help offset the cost of operating the airport facility. There are
no set guidelines or standards on what individual airports should charge tenants. An airport in
and of itself is not necessarily a commercial entity, but rather, a publicly funded facility. Therefore,
rates should be established to reflect the cost of providing the facility, maintaining and adminis-
trating the facility, recovering capital expenditures, and any other costs associated with the air-
port operation.
It is not always practical to charge users for only those facilities or services they receive. Most
users of the airport facility will also take advantage of common-use areas of the airport as well as
airport-maintained airside facilities and navigational aids.
A common method of establishing airport rates and charges is by researching what other neigh-
boring airports are charging for like services and facilities. When surveying other airports to deter-
mine a market basis for setting airport rates, the surveyed airports should be as comparable as
possible (5). The difficulty in using this approach is that the outcome may not accurately reflect
