Early last month, Paulding County, northwest of Atlanta, and a New York City venture capital firm announced they were on the verge of cracking a monopoly in metro Atlanta by establishing rival airline service outside Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Propeller Investments said it was in partnership with the Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport to do this while creating a cluster of aviation-related businesses in the area. Propeller CEO Brett Smith said he hoped to announce airline service to Paulding by year’s end, after the airport receives necessary federal approvals. He said his firm was talking with carriers with jets in the size range of the Boeing 737, which typically seats about 150 people. He declined to name the carriers.
It is the latest attempt to offer alternative airline service in the Atlanta region, one of the few major cities in the nation with only one commercial airport. But some Paulding residents are angry over the development. They have taken legal action, and a Paulding Superior Court judge is allowing them to challenge bond financing for a taxiway project to help expand the airport. A hearing is set for Monday. Here are two other opinions on the project:
Paulding County resident Bob Board (AJC opinion column, Oct. 29): "Over and over again, the people of Paulding County told political leaders at the ballot box that they did not want a new airport in the county. The people reject bringing the congestion and noise of a big-city lifestyle into our natural sanctuary, an idyllic country setting. But past county leaders joined in a plan to force a commercial airport into being, without the knowledge of unsuspecting taxpayers. They schemed and plotted against the people of Paulding, who did not want the expense and annoyance of an airport in our county. Sadly, the secret was not discovered until it was too late to stop the airport."
Brett Smith, CEO of Propeller Investments (AJC opinion column, Oct. 29): "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.”
