Up in the Air

The future of Everglades Airpark hangs in the balance as Collier County Commissioners consider closing or improving the airport. 

Everglades City residents and pilots were concerned when they believed the County Commission would consider Tuesday morning whether to decommission the airport in a consent agenda item - meaning without discussion. 

“I think it got misconstrued we were going to close it down,” said Collier County Commissioner Bill McDaniel, who represents District 5, which includes Everglades City. 

All five County Commissioners requested to take the item off the consent agenda and move it to the regular agenda to allow discussion as well as public comment before their vote on the matter on Tuesday. The Commission voted unanimously, 5-0, to study what is required to decommission the airport and what is needed to make it profitable, while also establishing an ad hoc committee to explore all possibilities of the airport remaining open.

"I’m not selling the property. I’m not closing the airport. I’m doing a study,” said McDaniel during a phone interview. 

County staff will ask the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) about the steps to close or decommission the airport as well as whether the county would then have to repay all or some of the grants received for repairs made to the airport over the years, which could total $2 million or more, McDaniels has estimated. 

County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to gather data within the county about the income, expenses, historical use, and repairs needed at the airport while requesting the FAA and FDOT to determine the steps necessary to decommission the airport as well as clarify the steps necessary to reclassify the airport, making it eligible for grants again. Meanwhile, the motion included establishing an ad hoc committee consisting of members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, led by southern regional manager Stacey Heaton, and Everglades City residents, who will coordinate with county staff on ideas to make the airpark more profitable. McDaniel requested data of the airport’s usage, income and expenses go back at least 10 years. 

Although Everglades Airpark contributes to the local economy, the airport loses money each year, Trinity Scott reported to the Commissioners on Tuesday. The airport ran a deficit of $150,000 in 2024, Scott said. In years prior to the hurricane damages of Irma in 2017 and Ian in 2022, the airport had a deficit of about half that, she said. Storms have put the airport several feet underwater, including the relatively new runway which has also been flooded with sea water.

So although the airport’s 2,400-foot runway was recently raised and repaved, it’s also already sustained some damage, staff reported. 

Furthermore, the fuel pumps aren’t working properly and the hangar door motors don’t work, McDaniel has said. So, the two main forms of airport income are not functioning, he added. 

An electrician is making some repairs, said Scott during the meeting. And the estimate to repair the hangars is $1.2 million with the project going out to bid soon, she added.

Internet connectivity to run credit cards needs to be addressed to sell fuel, said county airport manager Bryant Garrett.

The airport has a 10,000-gallon fuel tank that is a quarter full of fuel that can’t be sold, said Garrett. 

Scott reported there have been 3,569 annual operations, or landings and takeoffs at the airport, in recent years. Prior to Hurricane Ian in 2022, there were 6,044 operations annually, she said. 

Of all three airports the net operating budget in 2024 was $2.5 million of income produced at Marco Island Executive Airport; $130,000 produced at Immokalee Regional Airport and a $150,000 deficit at Everglades Airpark, Scott said during the Commission meeting. 

Residents and pilots argued that the airport is an asset despite its costs. 

Everglades City and Chokoloskee have one road in and out, making the airport necessary for emergency response, said Everglades City Captain Mike Merritt in an interview, echoing many residents’ concerns during the meeting.

“I like that the Everglades City community seems to have come to an agreement on this. We want to keep our airport,” said Patty Huff, president of Everglades Society for Historic Preservation, during a phone interview. 

Among the 15 registered speakers on the topic, Huff recounted the historical significance of Everglades City during the Commission's public comment period as well.

The airport’s traffic has decreased in recent years, despite the new runways, due to other disrepair.

“We haven’t spent any money since Ian, which is now four years,” said McDaniel.

The county was given the airport during the tenure of Everglades City Mayor Sammy Hamilton because it was losing money and the city was having financial difficulties, McDaniel said. 

That history and accounting is to be clarified by the study.

According to Everglades historical data, the Collier family, which is the namesake for the county, sold the airport to the county for $125,000 in 1968. In 1993, the Collier County Airport Authority was formed to manage the three airports, including Everglades Airpark, Immokalee Regional Airport and Marco Island Executive Airport. The Collier County Commission serves as the Airport Authority for these airports.

Naples Airport has its own independent governmental authority.

FDOT estimates that all three county airports combined generate an economic impact to the area of $300 million, of which only about $2 million is generated by Everglades Airpark. 

Rumors circulated prior to the Commission meeting that there was a deal struck with the owner of the 52-acre commercial waterfront lot adjacent to the airport, which is listed for sale for $9.5 million, to make way for a big development should it combine with the county’s airport site, which is 29 acres. 

McDaniel said it was untrue. Collier County had proposed purchasing that property adjacent to the airport in previous years, but for about half the price of what the owner asked, McDaniel. 

Instead, McDaniel said he would like to see a county-run public boat ramp competitively priced with private ramps already in the area should the airport be closed. 

If the airport is decommissioned, then the county could get a permit to open up this new boat ramp facility, said McDaniel. 

“It could be the largest public boat ramp that Collier County has,” McDaniel proposed in the interview

If the airport closed, McDaniel proposed leaving a helicopter pad for emergencies.

The matter will return to the Commission for further discussion after the county’s staff-led study and ad hoc committee recommendations, following guidance from the FAA and FDOT.