Punta Gorda Airport

Over the following several years, however, Parish says that the Airport hit its stride, with ten new hangars constructed. “In 2004, the budget for the next year was slated to be the best budget we ever had,” Parish notes. “We were going to make more profits than we had in the previous 50 years of our existence. But in August 2004, we got hit by Hurricane Charley, and were wiped out. Every building on the Airport was damaged and over 20 were completely destroyed. 80-some-odd aircraft were completely destroyed and we lost about 50 percent of our tenants. All of the businesses on the Airport were closed for an extended period of time. We had no power and no water.” “But the Airport was part of the community redevelopment,” Parish explains. “We were the staging area for Florida Power and Light and for all the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) services. For the next year and a half, we had a runway closed down with all the Florida Power pole crews, their tree crews, all their re- manufacturing line crews stationed at the Airport. And, during the time, we were doing mostly demolition and starting the idea of rebuilding. One of the things we were able to do during that period was to look at our Master Plan and do some things we never thought we’d have the opportunity to do.” Using previous Master Plans and moving forward, the Airport Authority was able to improve on many things that had been suggested over the years, but never accomplished. For example, the hangars had been awkwardly placed in 1943, but it was not cost effective to move them or start over. But, having buildings destroyed gives one a lot of freedom to ask what, and how, one can rebuild. “We also updated a lot of our plans and looked for new revenue streams,” says Parish, “We were heavily reliant on T-hangar rentals. Having lost half of our tenants, and already signed a contract to build 95 new T-hangars, we knew we needed something to replace the lost revenue. In early 2006, we started working with a start-up carrier that was going to come in for the first year, two times a week, out of Columbus. Skybus Airlines started operations here in late 2007. In the first