Florida Landing-Fee Plans Face Headwinds

Ormond Beach, Florida, is the latest municipality in the state to table plans for landing fees at its local airport, at least for the time being. A plan made public earlier this year to use ADS-B data to bill aircraft operators for landing fees at several Florida airports has raised hackles among pilots and the legal team at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). In the latest development, a Sept. 18 vote to proceed with instituting the fees at Ormond Beach Airport (KOMN) failed to pass at a City Commission meeting, largely because the issue had not yet been referred to the city’s Aviation Advisory Board for review.

Ormond Beach was among five airports reported to be considering the fees; the others are DeLand Airport (KDED), Flagler Airport (KFIN), Orlando Executive Airport (KORL) and Kissimmee Airport (KISM). The city government in Kissimmee said it needed to postpone the initiative for “more research” on the fees, as did the local authorities in Orlando regarding KORL. A vote to institute the fees at DeLand Airport (KDED) also failed to pass muster at a public meeting. But the cheers of airport supporters faded when the mayor made it clear that the city planned to “revisit” the proposal at a later date.

AOPA’s Southern Regional Manager Stacey Heaton told AVweb that plans for adding landing fees with ADS-B tracking data used for billing were also considered at airports in New Smyrna Beach (KEVB) and Fernandina Beach (KFHB) but were dropped based on traffic mix and the advice of the local Airport Advisory board, respectively.