Members of an Augusta Aviation Commission committee heard about ways to maximize the use of Augusta Regional Airport and potential obstacles.
The Opportunity Ad Hoc Committee talked about existing, available land, options on how to use it, and public development versus private development.
Committee members first heard a presentation from Pamela Davison, CEO of Bravo Air. The company provides private jet charter services from the airport.
She said the company began in 2021 with one aircraft, a King Air F90 turboprop plane. They soon upgraded to a larger King Air 200, also a turboprop. They then realized jet service was the way for the future.
Currently, the company has four jets and the King Air F90. They are using hangars one and two. They anticipate adding “heavy jets,’ those are larger, long-range aircraft capable of international travel, by next year. But Bravo Air is landlocked with no way to expand.
“Our operations, we’re busting at the seams. We need a much bigger facility, and we need more hangar space,” she explained. “We see a state-of-the-art FBO (Fixed Base Operator) at the end of General Perry Smith Parkway, with massive hangar space flanking the sides and back up to 80,000 square feet. We feel like we could absolutely fill it. We’ve got charter, we’ve got maintenance, we can do a flight school.”
Davison said if they can’t expand the Augusta operation, they will have to go to Aiken, Thomson, or Greensboro. She said they prefer to remain in Augusta.
Diane Johnston, Director of Innovation and Business Development for the airport, followed Davison. She said part of the holdup for the airport launching an expansion is red tape associated with using public funds for some airport projects.
“One of the challenges that we have is that neither the federal government nor the state government supports revenue-producing things. They support public use type of stuff,” she said. “They look at your runways, they look at your taxiways, they look at safety and security. They won’t come in and pay for the entire terminal, but they will help to support the terminal in some ways. But for FBOs, private, even just a ramp, they consider that for the most part, economic development.”
Commissioner Randy Sasser said they need to find a way to open the door for private money to come into the airport for growth.
“We are the impediment in my mind,” he said. “We can’t wait for economic development money. We can’t wait for GDOT (Georgia Department of Transportation) money. Private money is out there. The demand is out there. Private aviation is not going away. The people with the real resources in our community want to fly private. They’re going to fly private. I want them here at this airport. Let’s stop being in the way.”
Committee Chairman Davis Beman told ABD the Aviation Commission has a fiduciary responsibility to first, protect the airport as an asset, and second, to grow the airport.
“But in growing our asset, we found challenges in the government spheres because of the red tape and the regulations that we have to work with,” he said. “Versus going out and saying to a private company, ‘okay, you develop this, you build this, you pull the permits’ because they have less challenges in red tape and hurdles generally. They can also do it at less cost than we can because we’re just obligated to check all the boxes. I’m not saying we can’t do it. I’m saying our challenges are in the red tape and governance, which is what we’re called to do to protect our investment.”
Beman said “Project Green Jacket” could serve as a litmus test for how to attract private money to the airport. A company is building a hangar on the north end of the airport property.
“We had looked at building some hangars, and there was just so much that stood in our way of getting things done. We just kept endeavoring to put numbers together, contractors together, all the red tape and regulations that were required, but it was just too much for this airport to actually put a shovel in the ground,” said Beman. “So, we decided to outsource it. We’re going to let somebody come in and build their own building, and we’re going to participate in the revenue, the lease, and in the management of their space.”
He said, if successful, as it grows, the airport grows. If they default, the airport gets the building. A newly constructed, vertical, usable space.
Davison showed committee members renderings of two possible buildings they want to construct. She said the building will cost between $3 million and $5 million, plus another $10 million for the hangar space.
“We have the ability with our resources, we can build a very nice hangar at a lower cost rate,” she said. “Still going to be very expensive, but we’re all in construction and concrete and civil work, so we can pull together a really good team and build something. It puts us at an advantage to do this, and we have the operations.”
She anticipates partnering with a North Carolina company to build what’s called a Part 145 Station with the Bravo Air project. That is a facility that meets FAA standards for maintenance, inspection, and repairs. Davison said Standard Aero has such a facility, but it works only on large aircraft. If a light jet needs repair, a crew needs to come to Augusta from Atlanta, Columbia, or Charlotte.
Beman said it is common sense to work with Bravo Air, a company with local roots and already a presence at the airport, to try to finalize an agreement. He said it would not preclude also talking with any other company wanting to become part of Augusta Regional.
