MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A proposal for the city to take over fueling and other aircraft services at Hutchinson Regional Airport emerged as one of the central disagreements preventing the Hutchinson City Council from approving its proposed 2027 budget.
The council spent nearly five hours Tuesday, Sept. 1, discussing the spending plan, including more than $2 million allocated for the city to assume services now provided by Wells Aircraft.
At the center of the airport debate is whether the city should operate the airport’s fixed-base operation, commonly called an FBO, after the current agreement with Wells Aircraft expires at the end of August 2027.
Wells Aircraft President Don Rogers delivered a blunt warning about the proposal.
“If you want to take over the fueling today, you’re going to lose your butt, and I’ll step aside right now,” Rogers told the council.
Wells Aircraft provides aircraft fueling, ground support, maintenance, charter services and assistance for flight crews and passengers. Under the proposed budget, city employees would assume the fueling and customer-service portions of the operation.
Airport Director Alek Stang said the takeover would give the city greater control over customer service, quality assurance and fuel revenue. He said the expiration of the Wells contract provides a rare opportunity for the city to reconsider the airport’s long-term operating model.
“There’s never been a question about the quality of the FBO, fuel or anything like that from our current provider,” Stang said. “They set the bar very high, and we expect to meet that bar or exceed it.”
Stang said the airport can be a visitor’s first introduction to Hutchinson. Having the city directly oversee the operation, he said, would allow employees to focus on making that first impression positive.
The city would also retain the profit margin from aviation fuel sales. Stang said that revenue could be placed back into airport facilities, operating reserves and future development.
“In that aspect, the goal is to have a sustainable airport that’s equitable to users and consistent with federal grant assurances,” Stang said.
He said the airport has been prioritizing its most pressing maintenance needs during recent years. Additional fuel revenue could help the city address those needs and plan future improvements.
“It’s been a process of triage over the past couple of years,” Stang said.
Fuel expenses and projected revenue
The proposed budget includes approximately $2.2 million in additional funding for the city-operated service.
About $2 million would be used to purchase aviation fuel during the final months of 2027, after the Wells agreement expires. Stang emphasized that the fuel expense would have corresponding revenue when the city sells the product.
“It’s an expense that has a revenue directly attached to it,” he said.
City projections discussed during the meeting showed the $2 million in fuel purchases could produce about $2.2 million in sales revenue.
For the first full year of city operations in 2028, the city could spend approximately $4 million on fuel while collecting an estimated $4.4 million from sales.
Finance Director Angela Richard said the proposal also includes approximately $160,000 in startup costs for aircraft ground-support equipment and courtesy vehicles. Those purchases would not be necessary if a private company continued operating the FBO.
Vice Mayor Greg Fast cautioned against characterizing the entire $2 million for fuel as a direct taxpayer expense because the city would sell the product and use the proceeds to replenish the inventory.
Fast said the more relevant financial question involves equipment, employees and other expenses that would not be offset directly by fuel sales.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say $2 million when we’re just buying the widget and reselling it,” Fast said.
Richard said most of the net effect on the general fund could be limited to the approximately $160,000 in equipment expenses. The fuel costs would be ongoing, but revenue from sales would theoretically offset those purchases.
The plan would also expand staffing at the airport.
Council Member Darrin Truan said the airport is authorized to have three employees but currently operates with two. Under the city-operated FBO plan, the facility could have as many as eight employees.
“I’m concerned that if we can’t have three employees, how are we going to get up to eight employees?” Truan said.
Stang said airport officials had voluntarily paused hiring but expected to fill the existing vacancy during the fall.
Airport staff said employees added under the FBO proposal would not work exclusively on fueling and ground services. They would divide their time between FBO responsibilities and airport administration, making a direct comparison with the staffing expenses at Wells Aircraft difficult.
Staff also said Wells pays a fuel-flowage fee to the city. Hutchinson would not charge itself that fee if it took over the operation, eliminating an expense paid by the private operator.
Goss questioned whether municipal government should take over a service already provided by an established private business.
“In my opinion, this isn’t fiscal prudence; it’s the basic mechanism of socialism,” Goss said.
She also raised concerns about the financial risk, liability and additional city employees associated with the plan. Goss argued that the proposal would transfer profit from a private company to the government while making the city responsible for operating the service.
Goss said Wells Aircraft has operated successfully in Hutchinson for decades and has maintained a productive relationship with the city. She questioned why the city would potentially replace the company based in part on what she described as a limited number of customer complaints.
Goss also objected to requiring Wells Aircraft to compete through a request-for-proposals process after years of providing services at the airport.
“I think this is a proven business,” Goss said. “That is a slap in the face to a successful business that’s been operating in town for decades.”
Rogers disputed the expectation that fuel sales would provide meaningful profit for the airport.
“I think the biggest fallacy we’re seeing is you think you’re going to make profits in fuel,” Rogers said. “You will not make a profit selling fuel.”
He also warned the city about the potential consequences of incorrectly fueling an aircraft.
“We’re not even talking about the liabilities of you misfueling airplanes,” Rogers said.
Rogers argued that the city should first address maintenance concerns at the airport, including weeds and debris around runways and taxiways. He said those conditions already affect the impression Hutchinson makes on visiting pilots and passengers.
“That’s the first impression for a guy that comes in with a $10 million airplane,” Rogers said. “That’s the first impression that you have right now, because you maintain the grass.”
Rogers said pilots have contacted him to report grass and dirt clumps on the runway.
His accountant, Randy Porter, told the council he had encouraged Rogers for years to stop selling fuel because of the limited financial return. Rogers has continued the service, Porter said, partly because ending it could cost employees their jobs.
Porter warned that the city could lose more than employees if Wells ends its other operations at the airport.
“You’re going to lose your entire airport, because if this plan goes through, and the city takes it completely over, and Don leaves, that airport dies — the whole thing,” Porter said.
Airport staff also cautioned council members against relying on a frequently repeated claim that 65% of airport traffic comes from a particular segment of aviation.
Staff called the figure anecdotal and said it had not been verified through airport operating data.
Fuel records show Hutchinson sells considerably more jet fuel than 100-octane low-lead aviation gasoline, according to staff. Newton reportedly sells more low-lead fuel than Hutchinson, leading officials to believe much of Hutchinson’s activity involves jets and training flights.
Fast suggested the council keep the money in the budget while directing the city to seek proposals from private operators. Wells Aircraft would be allowed to submit a proposal.
A new agreement could potentially require expanded services, including the ability to work on aircraft other than Cirrus models.
Fast said that approach would preserve the option for the city to take over the FBO if it does not receive a satisfactory private proposal.
“Maybe we don’t take it over,” Fast said. “But we have a contract we’re going to have to redo anyway in August.”
The proposed budget establishes the maximum amount the city can spend but does not require the council to proceed with the airport takeover. Richard said the city could approve the funding and later reduce or eliminate the expense.
If the council removes the funding and subsequently decides to take over the operation, however, it would need to complete a formal budget amendment.