Hawthorne Global Aviation Services purchases Aviation Technolgies, Inc.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Dec. 1—PITTSTON TWP. — The Bi-County Airport Board at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Thursday approved the contract for the sale of Aviation Technologies Inc., to Hawthorne Global Aviation Services, based in Ronkonkoma, New York.
Aviation Technologies provides aircraft fueling, maintenance, charters and operates a flight school at the airport.
The purchase price was not announced.
ATI President James Gallagher was on hand to introduce Ben Humbert, Regional Vice President of Hawthorne. Gallagher said he will stay on for at least five years after Hawthorne takes over the operation.
"There will be no immediate changes," Humbert said. "Services will remain the same and all the employees will be retained. We are looking forward to coming into the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area."
Humbert said Hawthorne is headquartered at the Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. The company operates at 12 other locations in Montana, Wyoming, Iowa, Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois, Alabama and Georgia.
Parking rate increase
In other business, the board approved a parking rate increase of $1 per day for the garage and open-air facilities. Gary Borthwick, the airport's Assistant Director, said the fee to park in the garage will go from $14 per day to $15 per day and the fee for open-air parking lot parking will increase from $10 per day to $11.
The increase will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, Borthwick said.
When asked by board members how the fees compare to similar airports, Borthwick said ABE in Allentown charges $22 per day and Harrisburg International Airport charges $20 per day.
"We are well below both of those," Borthwick said.
Borthwick and Carl Beardsley, Executive Director, said the increases are necessary to assure the parking areas are properly maintained.
Beardsley also reported on the airport's passenger activity. He said passenger enplanements for the month of October 2023 decreased 6.8% to 17,692, from 18,980 in October 2022.
Beardsley said in October 2023, no departing flights were cancelled, out of a total of 21,862 departure seats. He also said no arriving flights were cancelled.
Other action
The board also:
—Approved the contract between Tri-State Security Solutions for security services.
—Accepted the resignation of James McDermott, Avoca, Maintenance I, effective Nov. 9, 2023.
—Appointed Eugene Scalese, Avoca, to Maintenance II, effective Dec. 4, 2023.
—Appointed Gerhard Perrone, Edwardsville, to Maintenance II, effective Dec. 4, 2023.
Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
