A Tac Air hanger at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport. Tac Air and airport officials disagree over the need for new general aviation facilities and a new fixed base operator.
Pam McAllister, Tac Air’s general managerAn official for TAC Air, locked in a battle with Chattanooga Airport over a new fueling and hanger operation, said Friday she’d support a legislative hearing on how state money is used at airports.
“They could determine if we really need another $5 million of tax dollars invested in this facility,” said Pam McAllister, TAC Air’s general manager at the airport.
The Airport Authority is seeking bids for 20,000 square feet in new hangar space and 13,200 square feet of offices for its new general aviation terminal that opened in mid-2011.
The airport already has received a $5 million state grant for construction of the second hangar at its center that’s used primarily by corporate aircraft and competes directly with TAC Air.
House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, said Friday he and other local legislators have talked with both parties in the dispute and he’s willing to hear TAC publicly present its case. But, he said, he leans toward letting airport managers make decisions about how they spend the money unless there’s some blatant wrongdoing.