“A motion for a second FBO has been adopted by the board,” said Jim Elwood, executive director of Jackson Hole Airport. According to Elwood, details surrounding the request for proposal and the timeline will be forthcoming.
AOPA has received numerous complaints about the airport as part of an effort to collect data from members and the public. According to one complainant, the current FBO, Jackson Hole Aviation, has the highest prices, compared to five other airports within 50 miles. Avgas is currently listed as $6.69; Jet A at $6.66. Another pilot reported being charged a $260 fee, just for a quick turn without “hardly any service.”
“There are numerous places where pilots are seeing egregious prices and fees, and our members have told us Jackson Hole is one of those places,” said AOPA President Mark Baker. “But communities and their leaders like the Jackson Hole Airport Board and the Orange County Board of Supervisors understand the value of general aviation and that high prices hurt access.”
In January, after a thorough examination of fuel pricing, California’s Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to replace a local FBO, Signature Flight Support, with ACI Jet at John Wayne Airport.
In his May 15 letter to the president of the Jackson Hole Airport board, AOPA General Counsel Ken Mead urged the board to consider applications for a second FBO on the field as a means to increase competition. Mead reminded the board that when it accepted federal improvement funds it agreed not to grant any “exclusive right” to a single FBO at the airport. In addition, acceptance of those funds committed the board to making the airport available to all types and classes of commercial activity, such as FBOs, on reasonable conditions and without unjust discrimination. Mead also pointed out that airports are obligated to ensure that FBOs are charging “reasonable and not unjustly discriminatory prices….”
The heads of the Experimental Aircraft Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association joined AOPA in writing letters in support of establishing a second FBO at Jackson Hole.
Wyoming Jet Center has already said it would like to establish a second FBO at the field. The airport has previously supported two FBOs.
Pilots are encouraged to continue to send AOPA reports of excessive and unfair pricing.