BKlott Posted November 16, 2018 Report Share Posted November 16, 2018 (edited) It is official. What would have been the 30th Annual Winter Haven Pilots Association Fly-in will not be happening this year. The Airport Management and the Airport Advisory Committee decided to require the Pilots Association, for the first time ever, to rent the picnic area at the field and purchase a $1,000,000 Liability Insurance Policy naming the Airport as the beneficiary. Of course, this would mean that the Pilots Association would lose money on the event. The Airport wants to make sure that they get their cut even though the members of the Pilots Association did all the work and the Airport did nothing. You would think that the Airport Management would be supportive of this event and maybe even help promote it by offering discounted fuel prices for the Fly-in attendees. The Airport could make some money that way while promoting airport activity at the same time. But no, they want to make money on top of that for doing absolutely nothing. The end result is that there will not be a Fly-in this year and maybe never again. I wonder if the Airport is requiring their restaurant to provide them with a $1,000,000 Liability Insurance Policy as well? After all, the increased activity due to fly in restaurant traffic creates a liability exposure for the airport as well, doesn’t it? It is worth noting that there is a new Airport Manager at Winter Haven. Whether or not he was the driving force behind these changes I just don’t know. But his previous job was the Airport Manager of Lake Wales Airport, which is not exactly known for being a booming center of General Aviation activity. In fact, if it wasn’t for their skydiving operation, that place would be a ghost town. It is a shame that this has happened. This event was always well organized, low key and lots of fun. Something that I looked forward to every year since my Dad and I stumbled across it on what I believe was the 17th Annual Fly-in. My Wife and I attended each of the past two years since my Dad passed. She enjoyed it too. I am going to express my displeasure by not flying in to Winter Haven Airport any longer. I wouldn’t want to increase their liability exposure, something they are clearly concerned about. Less activity will apparently make the Airport Management and the Airport Advisory Committee quite happy. Hey, I just want to do my part in making them as happy as possible. Edited November 16, 2018 by BKlott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted November 16, 2018 Report Share Posted November 16, 2018 BK, Have you copied this note over to the fine folks at AOPA? This is one of those things that makes no financial or economic sense... and Perfect for the legal team at AOPA! Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_H Posted November 16, 2018 Report Share Posted November 16, 2018 It’s very sad that many airports no longer care about general aviation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKlott Posted November 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2018 17 minutes ago, carusoam said: BK, Have you copied this note over to the fine folks at AOPA? This is one of those things that makes no financial or economic sense... and Perfect for the legal team at AOPA! Best regards, -a- I hadn’t considered doing that but I will. Good idea! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vorlon1 Posted November 16, 2018 Report Share Posted November 16, 2018 Apologies if this was covered previously, but is there an alternate location available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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