FAA declines second look at Centennial Airport hangar rent dispute

The FAA will not reopen its review of an 82 percent increase in hangar rents at Centennial Airport in Colorado. The agency upheld its finding that tenants did not show a breach of federal airport grant assurances. Its response is dated Oct. 7.

The dispute began on April 1, when Denver jetCenter raised monthly T-hangar rents from $660 to $1,200. Pilots affected by the change formed the Centennial Airport Pilots Association and took legal action against the fixed-base operator. The group also filed an informal complaint under Part 13, arguing the higher fees conflicted with federal requirements that airport charges be reasonable and applied without discrimination.

On Sept. 29, AOPA general counsel Fernando Campoamor asked the FAA to reconsider its August decision and to examine the operator's operating costs, rental revenue and occupancy records. His letter said 15 of 45 hangars stood empty after the increase and the waiting list had fallen from 108 to 64. Campoamor argued that the operator and the airport sponsor held most of the financial information needed to assess the increase. Complainants had produced what they could obtain, he wrote, and only the FAA could obtain the rest.

Peter Doyle, a regional compliance program manager at the FAA, denied the reconsideration requests. He said those making allegations must supply enough evidence to back them up, and that the agency's duty to investigate does not oblige it to build a case for complainants on its own. Under FAA procedures, airport users have two avenues: an informal Part 13 complaint or a formal Part 16 proceeding.

The outcome comes as aircraft owners elsewhere face comparable increases. At Salt Lake City, some general aviation hangar rates are set to climb by more than 150 percent.