County air cargo plan hits turbulence
| Monday, Feb 08 2010 05:08 PM
Last Updated Monday, Feb 08 2010 05:08 PM
Meadows Field's fledgling air cargo business has faltered.
AirCargo Port, LLC, which signed a lease with the county of Kern in September 2007 to build a 100,000-square-foot air cargo business at Meadows Field, has defaulted on the lease.
The county has been asked by the company to terminate the deal.
Company owner, San Diego developer R. Barry McComic, has gone bankrupt, said Kern County Airports Director Jack Gotcher.
He now owes Kern County $223,097 in rent payments that came due last fall.
"The cargo business kind of collapsed in '08," Gotcher said.
But county officials remain confident that air cargo will eventually be a valuable part of the airport's business arsenal.
In 2007 the AirCargo Port deal seemed to promise a new venue for expansion and economic growth for Meadows Field.
"We think this is a natural spot," McComic said at the time. "LAX is terribly impacted."
Since then both the the air cargo business and Meadows Field's passenger air service have cooled dramatically -- causing the county-owned airport to struggle financially.
Air cargo business has also cooled at Los Angeles International, Gotcher said.
Meadows was hoping to get overflow business that couldn't find room at LAX; now the massive air hub has capacity to spare.
"There isn't as much pressure as there was," Gotcher said.
That does not mean, he said, that Meadows can't attract air cargo business.
The Airports Department has been in talks with another air cargo carrier for months and Gotcher said there are just a few small things holding up a deal.
But with the economy as it is and AirCargo Port out of the picture, Gotcher said, the air cargo business is likely to be quiet for a while.
And that, he said, means land development expected to take place around the airport may also cool.
"It may slow the development down -- or not accelerate it," Gotcher said.
On Tuesday Kern County supervisors will vote on whether to terminate the agreement with AirCargo Port.
They will also have to discuss what they will do about McComic's debt to the county.
"It doesn't appear there is too much to go after," Gotcher said.
Supervisor Mike Maggard said the question of what to do about the loss of money owed the taxpayers must be answered.
"We have to have a little explanation about why we should or shouldn't pursue the money they technically owe us," he said.
In the end, Maggard said, the county doesn't have much choice but to take this setback in stride.
"You don't get too upset over something we didn't have," he said.
