Astar, Tampa Battle over Future Use of Empty US Airways Hangar

brokenwrench

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Oct 27, 2006
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www.amfadelta.com
Astar, Tampa Battle over Future Use of Empty US Airways Hangar

The future of an empty 150,000-square-foot airport hangar at Tampa International Airport is up in the air after a deal with Alabama-based Pemco World Air Services fell through. And Miami-based Astar Air Cargo has accused the hangar’s owner— the Hillsborough County Aviation
Authority — of shoving it aside as a possible tenant for the facility, previously owned by US Airways. “We offered a proposal to take over the entire hangar,â€￾ said Steve Rossum, the company’s executive VP and general counsel. “We don’t have a hangar presently. Ultimately, we
think there’s an opportunity to move into the heavy maintenance side of the business, not only for our own fleet of 43 aircraft, but the potential to do work for other people.â€￾

The aviation authority was originally approached about the hangar — empty since 2003 — by
Pemco, then Astar in June 2007, said spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan. “We sent them both letters with a request for information, along with some questions,â€￾ she said. The authority created a process to negotiate exclusively with Pemco that Astar did not think was fair, said Rossum. “The authority thought that Pemco was a better deal for them, but we thought it was a big risk, as they were being spun off from the company,â€￾ he stated. “And after the deal fell through, we
weren’t given the chance to offer our own bid on the facility.â€￾

But aviation authority Executive Director Louis Miller sent a letter to Astar’s law firm Dec. 6 encouraging the company to put in a bid to the facility. “Going forward, there is no bidding process. Anyone who contacts us, we will give them the detail,â€￾ Geoghagan added.
“We’ve been in negotiations with other jurisdictions, including Daytona Beach and Gainsborough, for hangar facilities,â€￾ said Rossum. “We’re not whiners. We are profitable
and reputable company whose CEO, John Dasburg, is respected in the industry. I’m surprised by the treatment we’ve gotten from Tampa.â€￾ The letter from Miller is a face- saving effort, said Rossum. “They’ve made a lot of public statements in the past about not negotiating with us, but we’re willing to talk,â€￾ he said. “We don’t know if we can ultimately be successful in Tampa after all that has happened.â€￾
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I've tried to keep a watch on this but it's been hard because everything is so secret.

This would be such a boon for US. We have wanted and needed a maintenance facility there for many years.
 
This would be such a boon for US. We have wanted and needed a maintenance facility there for many years.

Are you missing a smiley face? The hangar WAS ours back in the Metrojet days, but was closed right before Thanksgiving many years ago. We appearantly dont want a hangar down here any more. We have nothing to do with the hangar, its owned by the airport and US wont see/get anything no matter who occupies it in the future.