Gwinnett submits application to privatize Briscoe Field
Gwinnett County formally submitted a preliminary application this week to privatize Briscoe Field, the state's fifth busiest airport.
If it's accepted by the Federal Aviation Administration, the county would be granted one of two slots remaining to participate in a federal program that provides incentives for selling or leasing government-owned airports.
Once approved, the county could select a private operator to manage the airport, negotiate an agreement with that operator, and prepare a final application, said FAA spokeswoman Marcia Alexander-Adams.
Briscoe Field has one runway and operates with its own enterprise fund, meaning the money it generates remains within the department for maintenance and improvement. It has a yearly operational budget of $1,021,721.
Under the privatization program, local governments are allowed to sell or lease their fields without paying back federal grants used to build and improve their airports. Briscoe has taken in $34.3 million in such grants since 1973.
A New York firm has told Gwinnett officials that it would like to acquire the airport, expand the runway and begin up to 20 daily commercial flights to such destinations as New York, Chicago and Washington.
Propeller Investments, the private equity firm behind the idea, would install 10 gates at a new terminal at Briscoe and enable planes as large as the Boeing 737 to land and take off from Gwinnett's airport, said Propeller's managing director, Brett Smith.
Propeller Investment officials said the firm's plans would require adding 500 feet to the length and 50 feet to the width of the runway. The current strip, completed as part of a $28 million expansion in 1991, measures 6,000 feet by 100 feet.
The lengthened runway could support jets carrying as many as 140 passengers, such as the 737. Airport manager Matt Smith said the largest aircraft now flying into Briscoe is the Gulfstream V, which can seat as many as 19.
