Roughly three-quarters of a mile from where most passengers at Burlington International Airport catch their flights, an area used for general aviation purposes — such as pilot schools or charter flights — is poised for a facelift, as electric aircraft maker Beta Technologies expands its footprint.
But the airport’s handling of Beta’s growth in “the Valley” has been met with disapproval by some general aviation stakeholders. Airport administrators, in their view, have gone back on assurances made to smaller companies that they wouldn’t be impacted by Beta’s expansion.
Still, Burlington’s acting Director of Aviation Nic Longo takes issue with that characterization, saying the airport’s plan for future development allows both Beta and general aviation companies to thrive.
Among those concerned with how the airport is dealing with Beta’s buildup is longtime tenant Mansfield Heliflight, a Milton-based charter flight and aircraft repair company.
Officials from the city of Burlington, which operates the airport, told the company in a letter last month that its lease at the airport would not be renewed after it expires at the end of April.
In the letter, officials offered Mansfield a new, two-year lease that would include its hangar but “exclude the majority of the existing parking and lawn areas,” according to a copy of the document reviewed by VTDigger.
In the Valley, some stakeholders felt the airport’s move contradicted statements Longo made at a Nov. 8 Burlington City Council meeting. At that meeting, Longo told councilors that no aviation-related tenants would be affected by an agreement between Beta and the airport clearing the way for the company to construct a new manufacturing facility in the Valley.
In a Monday interview with VTDigger, Longo said the Beta agreement was a factor in the termination of Mansfield’s existing lease terms. For Beta to build a loading dock area for its manufacturing facility, it needs Mansfield’s parking lot, he said.
On top of giving Beta more space, Longo said Mansfield’s “past payment history” was “a massive consideration in this lease negotiation.”
Eric Chase, the owner of Mansfield Heliflight, told VTDigger that his company received a default letter from the airport in 2020, because — according to Chase — the airport was unclear about whether Mansifled could get relief from its rent during the pandemic. The company eventually paid back the airport, Chase said.
Aside from Mansfield Heliflight, tenants in the Valley recently had their leases renewed for two to five years, Longo said.
Still, those extensions have not persuaded everyone that, as the airport apportions its 942 acres, it has the general aviation community’s best interests in mind.
Chris Weinberg, a general aviation advocate who has a sublease with Mansfield Heliflight, has pressed Burlington city councilors to create a task force charged with watching out for the general aviation community.
Commissioning the task force was one of five actions Weinberg requested the body take in a Tuesday letter. He also asked that councilors compel the airport to extend general aviation leases by a minimum of five years.
“I encourage the council to consider the proposed actions above, in order to avoid unnecessary action that may result in the delay of Beta’s plans,” Weinberg, who has collaborated with a national general aviation interest group, wrote at the end of the letter.
