Profile

Page Field means different things to different people, depending on how far back in time they go. Old-timers may remember the introduction of airmail service and some passenger service well before World War II; during the war, they remember Page as a base for military aircraft. Prior to 1983, it was Lee County’s only commercial airport, and if you were around then, you probably remember now-defunct Eastern Airlines Boeing 727s coming in low and slow across U.S. 41 on their way to landing at Page Field.

If you have moved to the area since Southwest Florida Regional (now International) Airport opened in 1983, then Page Field is just a huge expanse of open land to the east as you drive along otherwise-congested U.S. 41, with small airplanes circling overhead. If you are a very recent addition to Lee County, Page Field may mean nothing more to you than Best Buy and Old Navy, and the rest of the stores in Page Field Commons shopping center.

No matter what the perceptions, Page Field has always been an important contributor to the local economy. That is as true today as it ever was.

An economic impact study commissioned by the Lee County Port Authority — the airport’s managing body — and released last November determined that Page Field contributed $35.4 million to the local economy in 1999. Of that, $22.3 million was generated by visitors flying into Page Field; the remainder came from business activities both directly and indirectly related to the airport. The economic impact study also estimated that Page Field added 847 jobs to the economy. Those numbers will only continue to increase each year, say Port Authority officials.

“Page Field provides a good business climate,” says Peter Modys, director of aviation for Lee County Port Authority. He notes that many area businesses take full advantage of the airport.

Convenience is the main reason Peter Tschernitz flies his company aircraft out of Page. Tschernitz owns two Fort Myers-based businesses: Crown Colony Management Inc., which develops and manages golf courses, and Euro-Tile, a distributor of glass tile. Both businesses require frequent trips to destinations in the eastern half of the country. “If you fly commercial from Fort Myers, it takes you a day to get anywhere,” says Tschernitz. “You end up sitting in Atlanta for two or three hours.” In his own Cessna 414, Tschernitz, a licensed pilot, can get where he is going more conveniently and, carrying three or four people, more cost-efficiently than with scheduled airlines. He flies out of Page a couple times a week.

“To pilots and aircraft operators, Page is a first-class airport,” says Mark Twombly, an aircraft owner and president of the Page Field Association, an airport users’ group. The airport has a long and wide primary runway and a cross-wind runway, a precision instrument approach, an air traffic control tower, fuel for piston and jet aircraft, maintenance and avionics shops, flight schools, and a convenient location, Twombly points out. “The Fort Myers area has the best of both worlds for aviation. It has a top-notch airline airport and a top-notch general aviation airport. Without both, the place wouldn’t be the same,” he adds.

Modys estimates business use of the airport to be at least 70 percent of the total 90,000 operations (take-offs or landings) per year at Page Field. That’s about 12,000 more than occur at Southwest Florida International (known by its FAA identifier as RSW). This includes private company aircraft; government operations such as EMS, Forest Service, and Highway Patrol; cargo flights; and flight instruction. “Page Field provides a home for all this activity,” notes Modys. Otherwise, these operations would move to RSW and consume a tremendous amount of capacity there, he explains. That would translate to more flight delays, traffic jams, and safety concerns. The Federal Aviation Administration has officially designated Page Field as a “reliever airport,” meaning it “relieves” the area’s commercial airport of non-airline traffic, enabling all flights to operate more efficiently.

That reliever status is one reason the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), a group representing aviation businesses throughout the United States, in December named Page Field as one of the country’s 100 “Most Needed Airports.” The other reason Page Field made the list was its projected growth. (Naples Airport was also named, but for more negative reasons of limitations and hostile political circumstances because of concern about noise from older business jets landing there.)

Page Field is definitely in a growth pattern. Annual operations in 1998 numbered 81,000. They are up to 90,000 now and are forecast to reach 110,000 in 2010.

Such growth wasn’t always the case. After the new RSW opened in 1983, Page Field was for many years the forgotten stepchild while its flashy new cousin got all the glory — and all the dollars from airline fees. “We just picked up one night and moved,” recalls Modys. “That left Page Field without an air carrier. It had to support itself on general aviation [non-airline civilian traffic] alone.”

Page Sees Dawn of Aviation

Page has provided air service to Fort Myers since the 1920s. The city of Fort Myers purchased the property where Page Field stands today from Realtor Charles Stadler in 1924. The land was intended to be a golf course, but various officials saw its potential value even then, at the dawn of aviation, as an airfield. Named in honor of Channing Page, a World War I hero, the airport was being used for daily airmail service by 1926 and served as a joint military and civilian airfield.

In 1937, National Airlines began scheduled passenger service into Fort Myers. About that time, because it didn’t have enough money to make the necessary improvements to accommodate increased traffic, the city of Fort Myers transferred ownership of the airport to Lee County. During World War II, Page Field served as a military airfield, a training ground for the U.S. military’s latest fighter planes, such as the P-39.

After the war, Page Field continued to develop its airline service, introducing jet service in 1965. Eastern Airlines started flying to Fort Myers in 1973, initiating construction of a new $850,000 terminal. By 1978, Page reached the milestone of 100,000-plus passengers arriving and departing during the peak month of March. Five years later, Page was abandoned by the airlines when the new airport opened.

With all attention focused on RSW, Page Field languished. Although private aircraft continued to operate from Page, growth was stagnant. The field had two privately run fixed-base operators (FBOs) serving general aviation customers, but, says Modys, neither one really put anything back into the field in the way of improvements. Meanwhile, Page Field was losing $250,000 to $300,000 a year just to cover the basics, like keeping the lights turned on, cutting the grass, and providing fire service, says Modys.

After years of inattention and neglect, however, Page Field began to make a comeback. The turnaround got its start 10 years after RSW opened, when Robert Ball came in as executive director of the Port Authority in 1993. The new administration “saw an opportunity to return Page Field to a top-notch facility,” says Modys.

One of the Port Authority’s most important steps was to purchase Fort Myers Jet Center, one of the two FBOs on the field, in 1996. “It was a great opportunity to generate income and fix runways, lights, signage, T-hangars — do all the things that should have been done over the past 10 years,” explains Modys.

About a year later, the lease on the second FBO, Fort Myers Airways, came up for renewal. Long-time owner Ed Wilson entered into what became bitter and divisive negotiations with the Port Authority, culminating in a legal battle that Wilson lost. The Port Authority closed down his FBO and tore down the building that housed it and the defunct Mike’s Landing, once a popular restaurant and bar. The result is that the Port Authority now operates the sole FBO on the airport, with a staff of 16. It also employs six maintenance workers.

Since taking over, the Port Authority has made several improvements, including resurfacing runways and ramps, renovating hangars, re-roofing and painting older buildings, tearing down dilapidated structures, and generally cleaning up the airport, says Modys. It also added self-fueler, allowing its customers to buy fuel for their aircraft at a discount.

About the same time the Port Authority was moving into the FBO business at Page Field, it also got involved in commercial land development with Page Field Commons. The 635-acre Page Field parcel had a few valuable acres to spare fronting on U.S. 41. It entered an agreement with Ohio-based developer Wasserman and Associates to lease 40 acres that became the very successful Page Field Commons. That project brings in $300,000 a year in ground-lease payments, and that figure is expected to rise as the profit-sharing part of the deal eventually kicks in.

The Port Authority generates another significant chunk of income through its lease of the former terminal building to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That brings in $327,000 a year. “So we are beginning to provide revenues that weren’t here before,” notes Modys.