FAA Upholds 82% Hangar Rent Increase at Colorado's Centennial Airport, Rejects Reconsideration Requests

The FAA has rejected requests to reconsider its decision on an 82 percent hangar rent increase at Centennial Airport in Colorado, with FAA Regional Compliance Program Manager Peter Doyle upholding the agency's earlier determination in an October 7 response. The agency maintained that tenants had not established a violation of federal airport grant assurances.

The dispute began when Denver jetCenter raised monthly T-hangar rents from $660 to $1,200 on April 1. Affected pilots formed the Centennial Airport Pilots Association and filed an informal complaint under FAA Part 13, arguing the increase violated federal requirements for reasonable and nondiscriminatory airport fees; they also pursued legal action against the FBO.

In a September 29 letter, AOPA General Counsel Fernando Campoamor asked the FAA to reconsider its August determination and review the FBO's operating costs, rental revenue, and occupancy records. The letter noted that 15 of 45 hangars were vacated following the increase and the waiting list dropped from 108 to 64 names. AOPA argued that financial data needed to evaluate the increase remained largely in the FBO's and airport sponsor's possession, with Campoamor writing, "Complainants brought forward what they could obtain, and only the FAA can and should obtain the rest."

Doyle rejected the reconsideration requests, maintaining that complainants must provide sufficient evidence to substantiate alleged violations, and stated the agency's responsibility to investigate does not require it to independently develop evidence on behalf of complainants. Under FAA procedures, airport users may pursue informal Part 13 complaints or formal Part 16 proceedings.

This dispute belongs to a broader strain between general aviation tenants and FBOs over hangar pricing as operators reset rents at airports where demand for hangar space exceeds supply. The waiting list at Centennial dropping from 108 to 64 names alongside 15 vacated hangars suggests the increase pushed some tenants out even as others waited for space, a tension the FAA's ruling does not resolve.

The case also illustrates how the Part 13 informal complaint process works in practice: the burden falls on complainants to produce evidence of unreasonable or discriminatory fees, and the FAA has now confirmed it will not compel the FBO or airport sponsor to turn over cost and revenue data on tenants' behalf. Pilots seeking a different outcome would need to escalate to a formal Part 16 proceeding, which carries its own evidentiary and procedural requirements.

Salt Lake City's scheduled increase of more than 150 percent for some general aviation hangar rates signals this is not isolated to Centennial. Whether other tenant groups pursue Part 16 complaints, and whether any such proceeding produces a ruling that forces disclosure of an FBO's cost and occupancy data, will indicate whether the evidentiary bar the FAA just reaffirmed can actually be met.