Story ID: 
Ohio Airport Takes Over FBO Operations
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: Start Aviation, which had operated the FBO at Middletown Regional Airport/Hook Field for a decade, will be replaced by a city-run FBO.
Word Count: 194
The city of Middletown, Ohio, is taking over management of the lone FBO at Middletown Regional Airport/Hook Field (MWO) on January 1. Earlier this year, the city notified 10-year incumbent operator Start Aviation, which also runs a skydiving business at the airport, that it would not be renewing its ground-handling contract. The city will begin its FBO operations from a temporary trailer, while Start’s skydiving operation will continue to occupy the 8,000-sq-ft terminal—which includes a pilot lounge, snooze room, and showers—until the two sides agree where on the airport Start will relocate.

According to John Hart, Start Aviation’s owner, the facility pumps approximately 100,000 gallons of jet-A a year, a large portion of that to fuel his company’s three skydiver-hauling turboprops. This week the city approved a $150,000 measure to install a self-service fueling system at the FBO, along with funding the trailer rental for the first half of the year.

MWO—which has the longest runway (6,100 feet) of any non-towered general aviation airport in the state—sees approximately 40,000 operations a year. It features a 24,000-sq-ft maintenance hangar and 39,000 sq ft of community hangar space.