— from the Washington Airport Managers Association —
The FAA’s proposed policy on non-aeronautical uses of airport hangars has been published in the Federal Register.
In brief:
· Hangars must be used for an aeronautical purpose or be available for use for one unless otherwise approved by FAA.
· An Airport sponsor may permit limited, non-aeronautical items to be stored in hangars provided those items are incidental to the aeronautical use and occupy an insignificant amount of hangar space.
In general, “incidental items”:
o Do not interfere with the aeronautical use of the hangar;
o Do not displace the aeronautical contents of the hangar;
o Do not impede access to aircraft or other aeronautical contents of the hangar;
o Do not require a larger hangar than would otherwise be necessary if such items were not present;
o Occupy an insignificant amount of hangar space;
o Are owned by the hangar owner or tenant;
o Are not used for non-aeronautical commercial purposes (i.e., the tenant is not conducting a non-aeronautical business from the hangar including storing inventory);
o Are not stored in violation of airport rules and regulations.
Where hangars are unoccupied and there is no current aviation demand for hangar space, the sponsor may request that FAA approve an interim, non-aeronautical, use for a period of no more than 5 years.
Comments on the proposed rule are due on Sept. 5. For further information, go to the WAMA Website: www.wama.us
Thanks to Tony Simpson, Port of Orcas Manager
Article seems to be missing very basic pieces of information. What right or interest does the FAA have in the contents of my private airplane hangar? Which hangars are restricted by this policy and which hangars, if any, are not? If I own or rent a hangar, can the FAA tell me what I may use it for and how? Can you fill us in on the basic info?
For further explanation (which may not be complete):
Land purchased with funds from FAA Grants is subject to “grant assurances” that derive from federal law (several laws, going back to the 1950s). As is typical, some Orcas Airport land so encumbered is leased to private parties with terms from 30 to 50 years. The tenants then build or built hangars (personal property) on the property. The typical lease at the Orcas Airport contains a “Type of Activity” clause that limits use to “house Lessee’s personal aircraft, and to conduct such other activities incidental and related thereto.” Other activities are specified as a breach of the lease.
There is an additional clause that the “Lessee specifically and expressly agrees to follow and abide by any rules, codes, laws or regulations imposed by the FAA.”
The property is also subject to inspection according to the lease.
Disputes have arisen at other airports when prospective tenants have filed complaints with the FAA or lawsuits because existing tenants are not in conformance with the law. They complain because of a lack of availability.
As the Airport Manager, my official policy is that I do not look in hangars and I do not have the resources to implement an inspection program.
If the FAA adopts new rules, it is possible that they could pressure me to look in hangars or even make it part of an audit inspection, but I think it would still most commonly arise where a complaint has been made.
I forwarded this information for those that my take exception to the FAA’s reach in this matter or those that might support it to have the opportunity to comment to the FAA on the proposed rule. Alternatively, members of AOPA or the WPA may seek to influence the comments of those organization (which are very likely to comment).
In addition, I should add that if you own a hangar-home on private land or rent a hangar from Larson storage or other private owners, these rules do not apply. They only apply to hangars that are on land owned by the airport that was also purchased with FAA grant money. It is possible for an airport to own land that was not purchased with grant money, but there are no private use hangars on port land where this is true.
At first glance, the list of “incidental items” looks pretty benign. Look closely at the text, and you.ll see that this is for the purposes of establishing fair market rents. It is for sponsor immunity, and gives owners or renters nothing more than the .insignificant space of the Willis letter … Nothing more than the size of a small refrigerator.
There,s big trouble ahead if this makes it into law,
It’s about time. Years of airport hangar tenants just using hangars as extremely cheap storage. Hangars should be for running airplanes not mini-storage.
This was originally designed to give a boost to the small aviation community.
Now friends just sublet hangers and wait lists are years long, thus creating more “back door” deals. Even the Airport managers are too lazy to do their legal job.