Airport Operations and Management Assessment Gratiot Community Airport (AMN) Alma, MI May 2020 Report prepared by www.meadhunt.com Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 2. Foundational Information ....................................................................................................................... 5 A. Data Collection Effort ........................................................................................................................ 5 B. Role in the National Airspace System and the Michigan Aviation System ....................................... 9 C. Current Infrastructure ...................................................................................................................... 11 D. Aircraft Operations .......................................................................................................................... 12 E. Revenues and Expenses ................................................................................................................ 18 F. Local Business Environment and Services ..................................................................................... 18 G. Existing Management and Maintenance of the Airport ................................................................... 20 3. Airport Obligations and Authority Membership .................................................................................... 21 A. Airport Obligations ........................................................................................................................... 21 B. Airport Closure or Privatization ....................................................................................................... 23 C. Authority Membership ..................................................................................................................... 25 D. Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 27 4. Management and Efficiency Issues ..................................................................................................... 28 A. Points of Contact / Chain of Command ........................................................................................... 28 B. Fixed Base Operator(s) (FBOs) ...................................................................................................... 29 C. Staffing ............................................................................................................................................ 30 D. Fueling Considerations ................................................................................................................... 31 5. Revenue and Expense Considerations ............................................................................................... 32 A. General Revenue Sources .............................................................................................................. 32 B. Existing Revenues at Gratiot Community Airport............................................................................ 32 C. Budget Comparison with Peer Airports ........................................................................................... 33 D. Financial Scenarios ......................................................................................................................... 34 E. Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 43 6. Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 45 Summary of Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 47 Page 2 of 47 Table of Figures Figure 1 – Proximity of Gratiot Community Airport to Cities of Alma and Ithaca Figure 2 – Location of Gratiot Community Airport within Gratiot County Figure 3 – FAA General Aviation Airports: A National Asset (ASSET Study) Figure 4 – MASP 2017 Airport Report Card for Gratiot Community Airport Figure 5 – Traffic Flow Management System Counts – 2019 Figure 6 – AMN Revenue Sources Figure 7 – Relative Comparison of Scenario 20-Year Results Table of Tables Table 1 – Summary of Gratiot Community Airport MASP 2017 Tier Classifications Table 2 – Primary Infrastructure Information Table 3 – Terminal Area Forecast Information Table 4 – Aircraft Reference Code Components Table 5 – Summary of TFMSC for Calendar Year 2019 Table 6 – Comparison of Peer Airport with TAF and TFMSC Activity Data Table 7 – Flights Registered in Official Airport Registry 2016 - 2018 Table 8 – Comparison of Revenue and Expenses from 2008 - 2019 Table 9 – FY2019 Budget Comparisons with Peer Airports Table 10 – Summary of Anticipated Revenue Generated from Airport Millage Options Table 11 – Estimated 20-Year Accumulations of Operating Surpluses/Deficits Table 12 – Estimated Increased Fuel Sales in 2020 Needed to Break Even under Scenario 2b Page 3 of 47 Mead & Hunt was asked by the Gratiot County of Board of Commissioners,(County Board) to undertake an evaluation of the Gratiot Community Airport (Airport or AMN) to assess possible ways to improve the efficiency, management, and revenue generation for the Airport. Additionally, a summary of the impacts of possible closure of the Airport with regards to the responsibility of Gratiot Community Airport Authority (Airport Authority) members was also requested. This report provides the summary of this analysis and outlines possible items for consideration by the County Board and the Airport Authority that address each of these areas. This report is organized around four primary sections and the summary as noted below: • Section 2 - Foundational Information • Section 3 – Airport Obligations and Authority Membership • Section 4 - Management and Efficiency Issues • Section 5 - Revenue and Expense Considerations • Section 6 - Summary Many of the concepts that are addressed in this report are interwoven with each other due to the nature of how the Airport currently operates. As such, an attempt has been made to separate the issues; however, in many instances, this is not feasible, therefore some topics will be addressed together. This report will attempt to quantify some of these considerations, so the County Board and the Airport Authority have data to support their decision making in the future. The information and the resulting findings contained in this report are based upon the consultants’ experience with other airports, both in the State of Michigan and across the United States, consultation with the Michigan Department of Transportation Office of Aeronautics (MDOT AERO) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), review of historic documents and interviews with an assortment of local stakeholders. It is important to remember that in the aviation industry, there is a saying that “if you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport.” This is important to keep in mind because what is very true across the aviation industry is that no two airports operate in the same exact manner and this applies to everything from the type of management, ownership, revenue sources, level of operations, type of use, and the list goes on. Consequently, several places in this report will provide a comparison of the Airport to other airports in the region as general representation of the way these airports operate and their results. In each instance, this cannot be taken as an equal comparison since all the variables previously mentioned become factors that contribute to their individual situation and their decision-making process. Page 4 of 47 This section contains a summary of important data that is key to the overall assessment of the airport. As the section title implies, this data provides the foundation from which the Airport and its operation can be assessed. A. Data Collection Effort The data collection effort for this study encompasses numerous elements that are important to building the understanding of the current airport infrastructure, operations, management, and perceptions of the airport by those involved in its operation and use. To address all these issues required a very broad data collection effort. This focused on looking at the ownership, the physical attributes of the airport, annual aircraft operations, and expenses and revenues. To support the data collection, information was obtained through a variety of resources including the County, the City of Alma, the airport manager, and the Fixed Base Operator (FBO), as well as MDOT AERO and the FAA. A portion of the data was obtained from a variety of documents while other data was obtained from interviews, which are outlined below. Interviews To obtain a comprehensive picture of the operation of the Airport, more than a dozen interviews were conducted with representatives from each municipality within the Airport Authority, the airport manager and the FBO, and various economic interests within the community. These interviews were conducted by Mead & Hunt staff and were intended to solicit insight from the interviewees on their opinions regarding the operation, management, and funding of the Airport as well as any other insights they cared to share with the interviewer. Additionally, interviews with peer