How the Wilmington Airport operator may skirt an eviction − and get another 30-year lease
Matthew Korfhage, Delaware News Journal
7 min read
This month, the New Castle County Council made an unexpected declaration: They’d like to get back together with the managers of the state’s largest airport.
That’s when a New Castle County airport task force recommended that the county not renew DRBA’s 30-year lease ending in 2025, and instead request proposals from other suitors. DRBA, in turn, said it refused to apply for a job it was already doing
For the intervening three years, the future of the airport has remained in uneasy limbo.
An Avelo Airlines plane sits at the Wilmington Airport waiting for passengers to board.
But in a resolution introduced by Councilman George Smiley on Dec. 12, the New Castle County Council unanimously approved a mash note to the DRBA. The resolution declared it would be "in the best interests of New Castle County Government and the residents of the Tri-State area" if DRBA continued to run the airport.
Notably, no new deal had been struck. And negotiations were still in progress. But the council resolution nonetheless authorized the "rescission of the non-renewal of the lease."
In other words: "We take it all back. Don't go."
A week later, at its board meeting, the DRBA sent a love letter right back: We accept.
“We’re pleased that New Castle County leadership made the decision to rescind its termination letter of June 24, 2020, and reauthorize the Delaware River and Bay authority to continue to be the sponsor of the Wilmington Airport for the next 30 years,” wrote DRBA commission chair Samuel Lathem in a statement released after its Tuesday meeting.But neither resolution has any legal authority. And the county and the DRBA have not agreed on the terms of a renewed 30-year lease. So what’s really going on? Here’s what we know.
Wait, back up: What is the DRBA and why was it running the airport in the first place?
The DRBA operates two airports in New Jersey and three in Delaware. Pictured: Wilmington-New Castle Airport.
The DRBA is a quasi-governmental transportation agency — analogous to transit agencies like SEPTA or DART.
But instead of trains and buses, the DRBA operates bridges, ferries and airports in Delaware and New Jersey. The agency is self-supporting aside from federal grants, meaning it takes no funds from either state — but rather covers its operating costs with tolls and fees and tickets.
In the case of Wilmington Airport, the County owns the 1,287-acre plot upon which the airport sits. Since 1995, the county has been leasing the land to DRBA for the princely sum of a dollar.
In exchange, the DRBA runs the airport on behalf of the county and takes its operating income in the form of FAA grants and fees.
How did the DRBA lose its lease in 2020?
In part, the county had to terminate the lease to negotiate new terms, said Councilman George Smiley, who sat on the airport task force that eventually recommended that the DRBA lose its lease.
The lease required that the county give five years' notice to terminate the lease, and unless the County terminated the lease in 2020, the DRBA would have automatically gotten 30 more years under the same terms, Smiley said.
And at the time, the airport was at a difficult crossroads. The Wilmington Airport had so far been a revolving door for commercial airlines. First Delta, then Skybus and Frontier, had started and then stopped service at the airport. (Frontier did so again in 2022.)
County Executive Matt Meyer convened a task force in 2019 to examine the options. The County hired a consultant to lay out the best potential paths forward, and offer recommendations.
Smiley, along with the rest of the task force, recommended that the county not renew the lease. And so in June 2020, a few months into a worldwide pandemic, New Castle County told DRBA their lease would be kaputt.
“When that notice was given that we weren’t renewing, planes weren’t even flying,” Meyer said. “There was uncertainty about whether it would start in a matter of weeks or years, and what impact that we have on airplanes.”
After a request for interest from other potential airport operators, five private companies declared interest. And as mentioned above, the DRBA wasn’t among them.
So what changed in the meantime between New Castle County and the DRBA?
Avelo Airlines employees pose with a prop frame to celebrate the companies first flight from Wilmington to Puerto Rico.
In part, said Meyer, the DRBA and the county have had productive talks since then.
But also, nothing breeds success like success.
“The bigger story is this,” said Meyer. “A few weeks ago, the airport just sent its first commercial flight outside the continental United States…. We are working to grow the airport as a hub.”
After starting service at the airport this year, carrier Avelo Airlines has broken record after record for commercial service at Wilmington Airport. The airline announced this fall that it had recently surpassed 200,000 served customers, surpassing a previous airport milepost set nearly 10 years ago.
The onetime leader of the airport task force, former Delaware Economic Director Alan Levin, said he's impressed with the current success of the airport.
“I was not aware that Council took this action, but based on what is happening at the facility I’m pleased they did,” Levin said. “All we wanted to see was that the facility be the economic driver it could be for the County.”
Will DRBA get a new 30-year lease under the same terms?
Not so fast, said Meyer.
The resolution “rescinding the non-renewal” is non-binding, Meyer said.
He has no plans to restart the lease under the same terms, but is confident that DRBA and the County will reach an amended agreement for another 30 years.
Many of the points of contention revolve around reporting responsibilities to New Castle County, and the rights of the County to make decisions about the airport, he said.
“The lease is going to be changed in some important ways to make sure our county has the rights that we believe it should have as the owner of the airport,” said Meyer.
In a statement, DRBA said it “looks forward to continued negotiations on new lease language to strengthen our relationship.”
Still, say both sides, they have not yet reached an agreement for a new 30-year term.
If the DRBA and the County haven’t reached an agreement, why are they making announcements?
The Wilmington Airport on U.S. 13 near New Castle
Money. Specifically, potential millions in federal money.
Councilman Smiley said that as the end of the year approached, he saw trouble brewing on the horizon.
“In the beginning of the new year, the FAA starts considering grant funds — funding for airports and others,” Smiley said.
The New Castle County airport would be potentially eligible for millions in grant funds in 2023, according to Smiley. But if the FAA believed that the DRBA’s lease for the airport was ending, they might be unwilling to release the funds.
The FAA had sent a letter saying as much, County Executive Meyer told Delaware Online/ The News Journal this month.
The resolution in County Council this month had a very specific audience: FAA administrators with control of the purse strings.
“Basically we wanted to send a message to the FAA that that the DRBA should remain in consideration for funding,” Smiley said.
In reciprocating, DRBA likely sent a similar message to the FAA.
But as much as it's a signal to the federal government, Smiley said the resolution is also an expression of faith that the DRBA is the right steward for the airport.
"If I didn't have a comfort level, I would have never put out the resolution," Smiley said. "I value my reputation and my opinion, when I put it out there."
Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all the things that touch land and money, and the many corporations who call the First State home. A longtime food writer, he also tends to turn up with stories about tacos, oysters and beer. Send tips and insults to mkorfhage@gannett.com.
