Avery County Airport Opens $5 Million Terminal and Hangar Named for 32-Year Board Chairman Samuel Calvert

Avery County Airport held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 18 to open a new terminal and hangar that together cost approximately $5 million and took roughly two years to complete. The facilities were named in honor of Samuel Calvert, who has served on the airport's board for 32 years and chaired it for more than 25.

Board member James Madison opened the event, noting that organizers had expected 50 to 100 attendees but were exceeded by the turnout. Also present were Vice Chairman Dean Harris, board members Doug Jennings and Bill Wiseman, and financial officer David Young. Food was provided by friends and family, with barbecue courtesy of Carolina BBQ, a Newland restaurant owned by Dave Calvert, son of Samuel Calvert. The new terminal features high ceilings with exposed wooden rafter beams, large windows, a lobby with leather couches and a fireplace, a conference room, a pilot's room, office space, and a dedicated office for a future fixed-base operator. The adjoining hangar includes industrial fans and a reflective white epoxy floor.

Madison described the project as roughly 20 years in the making and recognized Rachel Bingham of the North Carolina Department of Transportation, who served in roles including program manager, FAA contact, Aviation Development Manager, and Deputy Director of the Division of Aviation, for her role in advancing the project. JAARS representative Jon Damon said the organization has trained at Avery County Airport for more than 50 years because its mountainous terrain mirrors remote conditions its aviators encounter abroad. Dean Harris, a Navy veteran who flew CH-53 helicopters and has served on the board for nearly two decades, said the board's responsibilities center on rules, regulations, development, and securing grant funding. Three licensed pilots currently sit on the board alongside Madison and Wiseman.

The agreement tied to the new facilities involves JAARS, a Waxhaw-based Christian missionary organization that trains pilots and mechanics for remote overseas operations. Following JAARS crews' extended humanitarian operations at the airport after Hurricane Helene struck the region last year — flying patients to hospitals and delivering aid across the county — the organization is moving toward managing operations at the airport.

Board members noted the airport currently has no on-site fixed-base operator and is largely unmanaged day to day. They said government aircraft regularly use the airport to refuel given its central position among regional airfields near the Tri-Cities area, and that role is expected to grow as the new infrastructure comes online and JAARS takes on a management role.

Small, unmanaged general-aviation airports often stay relevant not through scheduled traffic but through a single anchor tenant or recurring mission that gives the field a reason for continued investment — here, decades of pilot training tied to terrain that resembles the remote regions JAARS aviators fly into. The Helene response, with humanitarian flights delivering aid and moving patients, gave that relationship new weight and appears to have accelerated the case for the $5 million terminal and hangar project.

The segment's dependence on volunteer and mission-driven organizations to fill gaps left by the absence of a fixed-base operator is not unusual for rural fields, but it does mean operational continuity rests on an informal arrangement rather than a contracted service provider. Whether JAARS formally takes over airport management, and how quickly a commercial FBO occupies the office space built for one, will determine whether the airport moves from an unmanaged field with a strong tenant relationship to a more conventionally staffed general-aviation facility.