The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) met with several senior advisors to New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill on October 8 to express concern about the push from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to evict tenants at Aeroflex-Andover Airport.
“We appreciate Governor Sherrill’s staff taking the time to meet with us,” said AOPA Eastern Regional Manager Sean Collins. “The governor’s team asked engaging and relevant questions about the airport, its operations, and what its future could look like.”
The meeting comes after months of concern from airport tenants who were first notified in June that they would be evicted. The NJDEP said at the time that many of the hangars needed to be demolished and that only the New Jersey Forest Fire Service would be able to use the remaining hangar space in the future. Tenants have since received formal eviction notices giving them until December 31 to vacate.
“I visited the airport a few weeks after the first notice went out to tenants,” said AOPA Vice President of Airports and State Advocacy Leon Jackler. “It is as clear now as it was then that the hangars should be repaired, not torn down.”
“The effort to preserve Aeroflex-Andover Airport has drawn broad bipartisan support from leaders across the spectrum,” said Jackler. “Andover Township Mayor Thomas Walsh, State Senator Parker Space, Assemblymembers Dawn Fantasia and Mike Inganamort, as well as Congressman Josh Gottheimer, have all publicly opposed evicting these tenants and demolishing the hangars.”
At a news conference held at Aeroflex-Andover Airport on October 5, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said the state’s own engineering assessment found hangar repairs would cost $4.7 million—far less than the $8 million needed to tear them down, or the more than $11 million it would cost if the state builds replacement hangar space for the Forest Fire Service.
Gottheimer also highlighted AOPA’s advocacy at Aeroflex, in which the organization warned that forcing tenants out of the hangars would likely shutter two airport businesses—a flight school and a maintenance shop—and ultimately put the airport at risk of closure.
“This is not on the governor,” said Gottheimer, who added that he believes the governor’s team wants to solve the problem. “I’m going to fight this day in and day out.”
Jackler and Collins said they heard a similar message in their meeting with Sherrill’s office.
“We heard no indication that the governor wants to shutter local businesses, including Andover Flight Academy, and her team appears to be seeking alternatives to the NJDEP plan,” said Collins. “We also urged her staff to hold an in-person meeting with local stakeholders to discuss Aeroflex-Andover and broader concerns about the New Jersey airport system.”
“AOPA looks forward to working with Governor Sherrill, Congressman Gottheimer, and the many other state and local officials who want to see this and other airports across the state thrive,” added Jackler.
