The city of Gastonia, North Carolina, has filed suit against the operator of Gastonia Municipal Airport, alleging the company failed to pay required fees and revenue under its agreement to manage the city-owned general aviation airport. According to the complaint, Academy of Aviation Gastonia was selected in 2018 to serve as the airport’s fixed-base operator, and that arrangement was later extended in 2023. Under the agreement, the operator was required to pay the city a per-gallon fee on fuel sold at the airport and, after the first 24 months, remit 3% of gross revenue generated by its flight school.
Court filings state the city is seeking more than $25,000, alleging the operator paid only part of the fuel-related charges and did not make the required payments tied to flight school revenue. The complaint also says the operator did not provide financial records requested by the city for verification and did not submit plans for a proposed hangar and office development that were required early in the contract term.
In addition, the city alleges flight school tuition was routed to an affiliated company in New York rather than through the Gastonia-based operator, a move the complaint describes as “a deliberate effort to circumvent its contractual obligations to the city,” according to reporting by the Gaston Gazette.
The lawsuit was filed March 27 by Gastonia City Attorney Eric Edgerton and has been assigned to Gaston County Superior Court. The city is asking the court to order payment of the alleged unpaid amounts and to unwind certain transfers of tuition revenue between the Gastonia company and the affiliated New York entity.
Academy of Aviation owner Chris Richards told the Gaston Gazette a resolution would come soon.
“We are cordially working with the city,” Richards said. “There was some confusion on the contract. We are expecting to have all this resolved within the next three to six weeks.”
I always thought Gastonia was in North Carolina rather than Georgia.