Higher Airport Landing Fees Coming for Hamptons Jet-setters

The town board will hold a public hearing Thursday on a proposal to substantially increase landing fees at the East Hampton Airport.

Councilman Dominick Stanzione proposed the increase on a recommendation from airport management in order to support its approximately $1.2 million operating budget, which doesn't include capital expenses, like runway repairs, or legal expenses.

Landing fees, which are based on the size and power of the aircraft, will increase about 30 percent, bringing the Hamptons airport in line with New York City rates, Stanzione said. Jets and helicopters will pay about $750 to land, about $200 more than last year, whereas small, single-engine air planes only pay about $15. The higher fees were anticipated in the 2013 airport budget, he said.

"Since 85 percent of all revenues are derived during the summer, it is important that we get these increases passed as soon as possible," Stanzione said.

The Quiet Skies Coalition, which has fought against the town accepting money from the Federal Aviation Administration because it feels it compromises the town's capability to mitigate noise, said in a statement on Monday that airport revenue, including money from landing fees, have a direct impact on noise mitigation.

The coalition supports increasing landing fees to the maximum extent possible. “As aircraft noise generated by the East Hampton Airport creates a ‘quality of life tax’ on the noise affected all over the East End, paid each day and night the year long, QSC seeks, at the very least, to have the cost of operating the airport passed along to those who use it," said Kathleen Cunningham, the chairwoman, said.

The town needs to find ways to fund increasing costs at the airport. Last summer, it installed a permanent seasonal air traffic control tower, at the cost of $700,000, including the use of funds in the airport surplus. The control tower, which the town hopes to have up and running by June 1, costs nearly $400,000 per year to fund.

“Responsible management of any town facility requires a business plan that reflects income and expenses and an overall plan for operation and maintenance of that facility,” Charles Ehren, the vice-chairman of the QSC, said in a statement. “For several years, East Hampton Airport generated revenue in excess of its expenses creating a surplus in the vicinity of $200,000 - $300,000 per year, from which other expansion projects, maintenance improvements and consultants fees have been funded.”

Ehren said the town should conduct a cost/benefit analysis of the expansion project and its related financial impacts, a move he said is required by the town code. "As no such analysis has been conducted, the Town Board is now being asked to raise landing fees in an effort to begin to cover some of that extra cost," he said.

Stanzione said that the increased fees are part of responsible airport management. "We've done a lot to improve the safety at the airport and have brought a comprehensive management strategy to the airport and the new rate structure represents the cost of doing business at the airport," he said.

"The management approach is to optimize and diversify revenue at the airport and professionalize it's operations and address aviation noise in the community," he added.

Supervisor Bill Wilkinson said he doesn't have a problem with the proposed increase. "If it's sensitive to the market place and we're out of touch with the market place then certainly they should be adjusted," he said.

The increase matches New York City rates, Stanzione added. "Essentially what we've done is maxed out the rate increase available to us in the market place. We've done that for two reasons. One, there have been no increases in the airport landing fees in the last five years. I felt it was time to address that."

The coalition would also like to see other revenue increases so help East Hampton Airport become financially self-sustaining, and no longer in need of the restrictive FAA subsidies.