Submitted by Greg Mahanna, Pilot and Aviation Manager
Monopolies at Pease Airport Are Not the Business-Friendly NH Way
We pride ourselves in New Hampshire for being business-friendly, and for a long time we earned a reputation for it nationwide. For four consecutive years through 2019, we ranked number one in business friendliness on CNBC’s annual Top States for Business poll. Business friendly means, in part, promoting opportunity and competition and encouraging responsible business development. But the current fixed-base facility operator at Pease Airport, who has enjoyed a monopoly at the Airport for nearly twenty years, has other ideas. With aggressive tactics, misinformation, and exaggeration, they are aggressively attempting to prevent another operator from doing business here. It’s disappointing to see, a disservice to the Airport, and a dangerous precedent that could hinder our entire business environment in New Hampshire. I should mention that I have operated business aircraft at Pease since 1993, and in fact, my employer at the time, High Tech Aircraft, was the Port City’s landlord via sublease of Hangar 213 when they were a maintenance and electronics shop.
For decades, the Pease International Tradeport has been a thriving representation of the business growth and diverse development opportunities New Hampshire cultivates. It is home to more than 250 companies who employ more than 10,000 people. It is a critical economic driver for our state, and the Portsmouth International Airport is an integral part of the Tradeport economic engine. As a tenant of the Airport for nearly 30 years, I have seen first-hand, the cleanup and careful expansion of the Airport as we evolve to meet the growing demand for a first-class aviation center in New Hampshire. To capitalize on this opportunity, we must remain competitive in our offering of services, modern facilities, and capacity.
The improvement and expansion of flight service facilities (known as fixed-base operators, or FBOs) at the Airport is essential for staying competitive. We have a world class fixed-base operator, Million Air, who wants to invest and do business in New Hampshire and bring their expertise to our Airport to better serve our passengers and flight crews. But Port City Air, the current operator at the Airport, is doing everything they can to prevent competition and preserve Port City’s monopoly over FBO operations.
Million Air is a reputable company in the national aviation community. I’ve had the pleasure of doing business with them for more than 30 years and know very well, the innovative design and attention to detail they bring to their FBO facilities at other airports. This will be demonstrated in their plans for their proposed new FBO at Portsmouth International Airport. Their due diligence has been exhaustive, and they have adhered to every State and Pease Development Authority land use and the numerous environmental regulations, Yet despite their thorough and responsible planning, they’ve been made the subject of a public misinformation and scare tactics campaigns, with Port City Air beating the drum, suggesting that the proposed Million Air project poses safety and environmental threats. These assertions are simply untrue, and not rooted in facts.
The ironic reality is there are deficiencies and risks in the current fixed-base operations at the Airport, which Million Air’s FBO facility will not have. Million Air’s FBO will be complemented by a state-of-the-art fuel storage and handling facility with safeguards above and beyond required containment standards, many of which the two aging Port City Air fuel farms do not meet. The Million Air system will also be backed up with failsafe alarms, control valves, and high-level gauging instrumentation, new technologies that would likely have prevented the several documented spills that have occurred as part of Port City Air’s operations.
The wetland risk concerns that Port City Air is alleging in connection with the proposed Million Air FBO are intentionally misleading and exaggerated. The fuel facility portion of the Million Air facility will be sited well away from any wetlands, and will more than comply with separate and rigorous NHDES fuel facility permit requirements. The road near where the wetlands impact was approved will not carry fuel trucks.
Million Air is proposing to invest in Pease and Portsmouth by building an environmentally conscious, safe, and innovative FBO facility. Million Air will provide award-winning service to the growing number of passengers traveling to the Airport and the New Hampshire Seacoast. We need to welcome this positive new development, not scare it away. If we start developing a reputation for being closed to new business and business unfriendly, it will have consequences for our New Hampshire communities. I know I’m joined by many other local residents and aviation industry colleagues when I say we should welcome Million Air, and continue working together to make New Hampshire a great state to live in, work in, and visit.
