Georgia is a leader in aviation-related jobs in the United States. Because of that leadership, we’re excited to be joining with the Paulding County Airport Authority to launch Silver Comet Field at Northwest Atlanta.
We want to capitalize on the skilled workforce in metro Atlanta and on the region’s proximity to other aviation-related businesses to create jobs and economic development in Paulding County – where more than 75 percent of the workforce leaves the county each day.
Because county leaders are committed to business development and job creation, we are confident companies will want to locate here and create highly skilled and good-paying manufacturing jobs adjacent to the brand-new airport, once they see what we have to offer.
Besides the exciting prospects for job growth and economic vitality, Paulding residents will benefit by having a multi-million-dollar investment begin to pay for itself and actually add to the tax base. Revenues generated from this agreement can be used to offset property taxes and help fund schools, public safety, hospitals, roads and bridges.
Our agreement with Paulding provides the county a new stream of revenue from landing fees, taxes on based aircraft, a percentage of gross revenue from operations, ground rental income from Propeller, terminal sales tax receipts, and additional monies from all of the businesses that spring up around the airport. Total revenue to the county resulting from the airport will be millions of dollars every year.
An ancillary benefit of the new airport will be its reclassification allowing limited commercial service to begin in the next few months.
Service at Silver Comet Field will provide primarily leisure travelers with a more convenient and less expensive alternative to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where nearly 90 percent of flights are controlled by one carrier.
Our vision is not to create a large commercial hub airport with hundreds of flights a day. What we envision is a small, easily accessible airport without the traffic, delays and congestion of Hartsfield-Jackson, providing families direct flights to vacation destinations and a better, hassle-free customer service experience.
Atlanta is the only one of the top 10 metro areas in the country without a secondary commercial airport. This serves as a hindrance when competing with other cities in today’s global economy to lure businesses, jobs and new residents.
With more than 1 million people living within a 25-mile radius of Silver Comet field and more than 5 million people in the metro area, we are certain – and so are the airlines we’re speaking with – that this type of service will be viable and successful here.
Our goal is to announce an airline before the end of the year.
Paulding County residents should applaud the leadership of the County Commission and the Airport Authority. They are fortunate to have proactive, forward-looking leaders.
