Recently in a Facebook post linked to their independent website, Sussex Aviation (Owner Alan Antaki) stated the airport was in immediate threat of closure due to the hangars (a property not owned by Antaki, but houses hangars and runway access with permanent easement), and the non aviation use of the hangars.
Let’s have a closer look at the details –
A call to EVERY AIRPORT within 125 miles has a wait list for hangars that is several years long – except Sussex. Why? How could this be? If you are new to the area and looking for a hangar, and you stumble upon a miracle?
No. The fact is, that the airport is highly deteriorated, and is plagued with an owner who will trespass you from airport property if you look at him the wrong way – landlocking your airplane and property indefinitely. A huge risk. There is no shortage of aircraft owners looking for hangar space in the region. The ownership and management of the Sussex airport is SO BAD and unpredictable, people would rather wait 4 years to get a hangar someplace else than to have a hangar at the Sussex Airport.
The fact is Mr. Antaki has threatened to close the airport many times, and the hangars have never really been the issue. Realistically, even if the hangars were 100% occupied with aircraft, Antaki would find something else to complain about.
The airport is run down and deteriorating. The FAA refuses to grant any funding due to the numerous compliance issues. While maybe the hangars housing non aviation tenants may be a factor, it’s one of MANY factors. There are numerous non compliance issues the local ADO has identified and confronted Mr. Antaki with. The only real enforcement action the FAA and local officials can take is to not provide government grants or funding. In his online diatribe Mr. Antaki states that the hangars are stopping him from having access to these funds, while in fact when confronted, Mr. Antaki’s official position to the FAA and the ADO is that he has never asked for, or requested funding, and does not want funding, and will not comply with the compliance issues of the airport.
In the online article, Sussex Aviation states snowmobiles run over the laser guidance landing systems – the only approach for Sussex airport is a GPS based approach. There are no lasers associated with any approaches or landing systems at the airport. In fact, the lighting systems at the airport for use in the aid of landing have all been out of service since 2016 with no attempt at repair.
Sussex Aviation states “Gennaro’s property is considered an aircraft movement area. Families using and visiting Mr. Gennaro’s storage facility are unaware of the dangers to their children being in close proximity to running airplanes with propellers spinning.” – By definition this is not correct. According to the FAA the definition of a movement area is “Movement Area–the runways, taxiways, and other areas of an airport that aircraft use for taxiing, takeoff, and landing, exclusive of loading ramps and parking areas, and that are under the control of an air traffic control tower.” Even if Sussex airport WAS a controlled airport, the hangar property would NOT be part of the “Movement area” It’s unclear if this is an active attempt at spreading disinformation, or if Mr Antaki genuinely does not understand the rules and regulations of running an airport.
The pilot community of Sussex has heard many times the threats to close the airport for various reasons. fact is the Sussex airport is considered critical infrastructure and cannot be closed. It is required to be open and cannot be shuttered for any reason that has been presented. Should Mr. Antaki fail to maintain his airport in a way it remains available to pilots, the FAA will take over the management if the airport. Mr. Antaki knows this and this has been communicated to him many times via the FAA, the FSDO, and the ADO.
The problem is not the hangars. The problem start with management and ownership. As a community, the local pilots and aviators avoid the airport and Mr. Antaki, like the plague he’s been since acquiring this airport. If it weren’t for ownership and management, there’s no doubt those hangars would be filled with airplanes, with a waitlist. We all agree not having exclusively aviation tenants is not great, but what alternatives are there when ownership drives away all the aviation tenants and traffic?
As an owner of a private aircraft, I certainly avoid storing it on property where the property owner has a demonstrated history of illegally moving, hiding, and chaining aircraft and holding them hostage.