Story ID: 018
Long-Standing FBO Out at Iowa Airport
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: Ottumwa Flying Service operated at the airport for more than 30 years. 
Word Count: 180

Family-owned Ottumwa Flying Service’s (OFS) tenure of more than 30 years in operation as the service provider at Iowa’s Ottumwa Regional Airport comes to an end this month, following a vote by the city council to award the new FBO contract to Archangel Services, a division of local company Winger Mechanical. The new operator is set to take over the facility at the beginning of March. It includes a 7,000-sq-ft terminal and a 35,000-sq-ft hangar, which can accommodate aircraft up to Falcon 900.

The shift does not include the refuelers and ground service equipment. According to OFS owner and president Steve Black, those will be sold off along with several aircraft at an auction in May at nearby Oscaloosa Municipal Airport. The airport typically issues five-year leases on the FBO, with an RFP at the end of each period, said airport manager Mike Bainbridge. After the latest request for sealed proposals, Archangel responded, triggering a multi-step review process. “We feel that Archangel, in terms of economic development, gave us a much better package,” Bainbridge told AIN.