This article discusses a recent controversial topic about central FL General Aviation airports. Many air traffic control facilities are considering using radar data, protected by certain laws, to charge aircraft owners for takeoffs and landings at these local airports. There is obviously some resistance to this idea.

We have reached out to several of the players involved and wish to present a fair, unbiased view of the topic

Please contact us if you see anything in error. Current as of June 9, 2025

Airport User Fees. What's the Story?

Central FL has long had a congestion problem at the General Aviation airports due to the high concentration of training in our area. We have several large schools that operate large flight training department. In addition to Universities (Embry-Riddle, FIT, etc) there are many large independent flight training centers (ATP, FTP, Orlando Flight School, Akron, 2Fly, D&J Aviation and others.) As a result, the "patterns" are getting filled up. If you are a non-aviation person, this means the immediate area around the runways (within 5 miles) that are used for take off and landing practice. Naturally the holding areas before the runway are starting to fill up as well. Many times a corporate pilot will taxi out to the runway and get told something like "You are number 25 for takeoff" behind all the training aircraft, which runs up the cost, as these planes cost money even when sitting on the ground with the engines running.

Trying to Reduce the Traffic

This usually doesn't affect the big commercial airports, like Orlando International, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. It is, however, starting to affect the "feeder" airports like Sanford, Daytona, Melbourne, Palm Beach, Sarasota, St. Pete, etc. Some of these airports are restricting training traffic now, forcing the schools to go to the smaller, executive airports. Notably in the chatter lately are places like Orlando Executive, Kissimmee Gateway, Space Coast Executive, Leesburg, Ocala, etc.

Contract Control Towers

These smaller airports are not always staffed by FAA personnel. Many use contract agencies to staff the ground and tower position. Robinson Aviation is a large player in this arena. They currently staff several of the previously mentioned airports. According to our sources, they recently hatched a plan to institute radar tracked user fees for planes taking off an landing at their airports. The radar information is publicly available from many websites. The companies involved include VirTower (who provides the software) and Vector Airport Systems, who would handle the billing.

Outrage from Small Plane Owners

Contrary to popular opinion, not all aircraft owners are rich. Many hobbyists own a small aircraft and pay for things such as tie down, insurance, maintenance and the rising cost of fuel. They are understandably concerned that they will be charged a small landing and takeoff fee every time they exercise their hobby.

Public Forums

The local governments that oversee these smaller airports are holding public forums where anyone can get three minutes to voice their opinion. Attempts to reach Robinson and Vector have been unsuccessful. VirTower referred us to Vector, who will be handling the money. So far most of the towers are putting off the implementation of the fees. There are some notable exceptions.