Steve Thurston (2021)
Floyd Bennett Memoiral Airport Manager Robin Mapp stands in his office overlooking the airport.
Robin Mapp wants to fly solo.
That can be taken literally--he is working on his pilot’s license--and figuratively.
As the new airport manager at the Warren County Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport, he hopes to help bring the airport to revenue neutrality--where, figuratively, it flies solo.
He has ideas to generate more revenue that he is not yet ready to disclose and is taking ideas from the community. He wants to get to know the job and community better before he stands firm on one idea or another, he said, admitting that at just a few weeks on the job, “I’m still getting my feet wet.”
He said he has taken on the oversight of projects at the airport, such as the purchase of snow removal equipment and the new garage for that equipment, a transfer to LED lighting, and the 8-bay, T-hanger that is currently under construction at the airport. The demand is strong, and the bays are already rented, he said. A press release states that he replaces Don DeGraw, who took a job at an airport in Florida earlier this year. Mapp added in the interview that the staff who had to operate the airport for months without a manager, have been a “great group of individuals.”
In a statement to the community, Mapp writes, “It is also my directive to ensure the facility is as self-sufficient as possible in order to provide the incredible service to the community without draining valuable financial resources.”
He is taking the job at the time when the airport is running about $30,000 or $40,000 short of revenue neutrality, his supervisor, Kevin Hajos, the Warren County superintendent of public works said in an interview. This is down from about $800,000 just a handful of years ago, Hajos said.
Hajos said Mapp has been given the task to help move toward revenue-neutrality.
The county owns the airport and budgeted about a half million dollars this year for its operations. The county takes in revenue from hanger rentals and leasing to Rich Air, the airport’s Fixed Base Operator, and other services, Hajos said. He said the county has changed the leasing structure at the airport, which has drawn more revenue and eliminated a middleman.
Most recently, the airport leased about 50 acres of open space to Nexamp Solar. Approved in April before Mapp arrived, the solar park project will bring about $207,000 in the first year with a 2% increase yearly for 24 years thereafter. Construction begins this summer.
Hajos said that revenue generated from the project is not exact, but that it will bring the airport close to revenue neutral in the next couple of years.
Mapp comes to Warren County from Aspen/Pitkin County Airport in Aspen, Colo., where he was airport operations security coordinator. He has also worked at airports in Portland, Ore., and Barbados, the press release said.
He has a wife and 9-year-old child, and of them, he writes: “My family and I are excitedly looking forward to more fun in the snow!”