Residents blast DeKalb Commission for approving PDK hangar expansion
A $45 million project to add eight private jet hangars to the county-owned DeKalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK) has inflamed longstanding concerns about noise and emissions at the state’s second-busiest airport.
Last month, DeKalb County commissioners approved Sky Harbour‘s proposal to build the new hangars on unused land on the east side of the airport in Chamblee. Officials say the project could generate $576 million in tax revenue over 50 years and take the airport to the next level.
And Sky Harbour officials argue by offering on-site hangars for more private jets at PDK, the project will actually reduce noise by eliminating empty flights by jets housed at other airports but whose owners want to take off from DeKalb County.
But some residents are skeptical. Opponents say the new revenue will not offset the negative impact on nearby neighborhoods.
PDK is considered a major revenue opportunity for the county. It has been the fastest-growing metro area general aviation airport in recent years, and neighbors’ opposition has grown in response.
Jaime Dutro, one of more than 50 people to attend a town hall on the expansion Tuesday night in Brookhaven City Centre, said county commissioners are sacrificing residents’ quality of life for a project that will benefit corporate executives.
“Those people are so rich they don’t want to fly first class, which is 10 times less polluting than private jets,” said Dutro, a 33-year resident of the Sagamore Hills neighborhood about 3 miles from the airport. “The county sold us down the river.
“They don’t care about us.”
Cheryl Glover, who has lived in Chamblee for more than 30 years, said she is disappointed community concerns didn’t carry more weight with the County Commission.
“The environmental issues and the quality of life impacted seem to not have had any effect on any of the votes,” she said.
Commissioners approved the 13-acre Sky Harbour project with a 6-1 vote on Nov. 18. Only District 2 Commissioner Michelle Long Spears opposed it.
Pending local and federal permits, the company estimates breaking ground in mid-2027 and a grand opening in 2028.
DeKalb Commissioner Ted Terry — who voted in favor of the project after trying unsuccessfully to defer a decision — held Tuesday’s town hall to explain the project and answer questions.
He told residents the county will set aside $1 million annually to enhance PDK’s surrounding communities with environmental, health and noise mitigation.
At Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Terry introduced a resolution to ban further hangar development at PDK until the airport’s master plan can be updated — and to ask the Federal Aviation Administration to restrict nighttime flights. He expects the resolution to be considered in the new year.
While he voted for the project, Terry questioned the $576 million revenue projection, which he said came from White Plains, N.Y.-based Sky Harbour.
“If I was planning for the future, I would plan for half of those revenues coming in,” Terry said in an interview. “I’m always skeptical when folks come to town making big promises over many years.”
At Tuesday’s town hall, Terry said the contract with Sky Harbour will require the company to give quarterly reports to ensure it is limiting noise and pollution by reducing the number of so-called “repositioning flights.”
The county also plans to create a community relations manager dedicated to the airport’s relationship with its neighbors. A noise and air quality study is expected to wrap this summer.
‘We heard loud and clear’
Sky Harbour builds hangar space for aircraft based at its airports, unlike other existing tenants which handle transient aircraft based elsewhere that fly in and out to pick up passengers, said Sky Harbour Senior Vice President Neil Szymczak.
PDK will be its 20th location.
Szymczak argues any contention that the project will increase noise at the airport is a misunderstanding of its business model.
By providing new hangar space for jets owned by companies in DeKalb and greater Atlanta, Sky Harbour will eliminate the need for “empty” flights from other airports that are currently required to position those jets at PDK, Szymczak told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Instead, the planes will already be present.
“It’s actually a net reduction of empty flights. We heard loud and clear from the community their concerns about noise. You see more hangars, you think more aircraft. You think more noise,” which isn’t true, Szymczak said.
Dutro called the argument “smoke and mirrors.”
“They can’t prove that they’re going to get those results,” Dutro said. “And then afterwards, they can’t be held responsible for it because once they start building the hangars, it’s over. DeKalb County won’t and can’t enforce the requirement that they reduce flights.”
Larry Foster, a spokesperson for the group PDK Watch, said he’s concerned about the precedent the project sets.
“We’re not talking about what’s going to happen,” Foster said. “We’re just talking about the first step. It’s an unsafe step.”
He pointed to a data analysis on runway safety by travel publication Upgraded Points, which found PDK had the most “runway incursions” from 2021 to 2024 of any U.S. airport.
But incursions, as classified by the FAA, can range from a serious incident to one with little or no immediate safety consequences.
According to an October memo from PDK airport director Hunter Hines to DeKalb’s commissioners, of all incursions cited by the study, the “overwhelming majority ... presented minimal or no safety risks. While these incidents are still recorded for reporting accuracy, they should not be interpreted as indicators of systemic safety failures.”
Airports with large pilot training presences like PDK, the study’s author noted, are more likely to see incursions “due to frequent takeoffs and landings by less-experienced pilots.”
While residents’ frustration is currently directed at Sky Harbour, the project reflects a larger issue: rising demand for space by private jet users at PDK.
Szymczak said the local business community wants to fly out of PDK given its location, which is why the company strategically chose it among the metro’s other general aviation airports.
It is the metro’s most popular general aviation airport, which plays host to 13 pilot training schools, corporate jets for companies including Waffle House and Southern Company as well as the headquarters for Wheels Up, a Delta-backed private jet charter company.
In 2021, PDK saw more than 158,000 takeoffs and landings. Last year that number was nearly 199,000, according to county data.
The airport previously estimated it could increase operations by several thousand flights per year with additional hangar space.
Anna Martin, who lives with her husband and three children in the Ashford Park neighborhood of Brookhaven, said she is concerned what the growth could mean for long-term emissions impact from the jets on her family.
“I have young children, so if asthma shows up for them when they’re 25, I’m wondering, what is Brookhaven going to do?” Martin asked. “Are they going to get any type of medical compensation? I don’t know. I’m wondering if my husband and I have to move.
“And it’s unfortunate because we love the people of Chamblee and Brookhaven. It’s a wonderful community, but I don’t feel like our officials really listen to us.”
Staff writer Sara Gregory contributed to this article.
About the Authors
Reed Williams is an enterprise reporter on the Local team at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
