The Cottonwood Airport Commission discussed the possibility of introducing landing fees for transient aircraft at the Cottonwood Municipal Airport during its meeting on Wednesday, March 6.
A representative from Herndon, Va.,-based Vector Airport Systems gave a presentation on their landing fees system and partnership with Virtower. The Vector representative proposed utilizing their automated billing and collections software, Planepass, which allows an airport to bill pilots for landing fees automatically.
The presenter said that many airports across the nation are implementing their technologies after being inundated with flight traffic to the point where it’s becoming a possible safety hazard.
The presenter said that airports typically collect fees only when staff is physically present, potentially missing between 20% and 30% of operations, and that the fully-automated technology will not pull staff away from other responsibilities.
The airport can set its own rates and fees and Vector will collect on its behalf. Local tenants and operators of aircraft based at the field will be exempt from fees.
The presenter explained that the Planepass can charge landing fees if an aircraft touches the ground. The Planepass Overflight system can charge an aircraft conducting operations at the airport, including overflying the runway but not touching down. They have a variety of settings in place to capture touch-and-goes and transients.
The representative from Vector said that the landing fee system can more effectively manage training traffic while finding new ways to create revenue for the airport, and said it could reduce traffic and noise depending on the fees and how they are structured. She compared it to paying a toll while driving on a toll road. She added that the company works with many general aviation airports in similar situations with neighborhoods nearby and frequent noise complaints.
Many residents have made complaints about the flight training traffic created by students from EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University.
Airport Manager Jeff Tripp said that the process will require multiple steps and that there will be further meetings to gather input from both the public and the commission, and that the airport will put together a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis to show the pros and cons of the system before presenting it to City Council for discussion and possible adoption.
He added that fees need to be based in reality, in the range of $5 to $10, and not set high in an attempt to eliminate all air traffic.
Residents can send questions to airport.noise@ cottonwoodaz.gov.
