As commercial air travel lags, Petaluma airport charters thrive

Flying, shipping, firefighting and fueling operations continue on at the Petaluma Municipal Airport, the approximately 220-acres on the northeastern edge of the city still humming amid the pandemic.|

After more than 30 years at the Petaluma Municipal Airport, family-run Mangon Aircraft, Inc. has witnessed a lot over the years, its large hangar doors often flung open, forming a framed front-row view of the runway and daily nexus of activity.

Yet as many sectors are rattled to their core by the coronavirus pandemic, the aircraft service and repair company’s president, Ronald Mangon, says he is as busy as ever. On a recent weekday, his employees sedately operated on the exposed innards of small planes, the sounds of taxiing and landing aircraft a constant and reliable white noise.

“Honestly, the recession back in the early 80s was worse than this,” Mangon said, standing among a trio of single-engine aircraft. “We have a solid customer base, and regardless of COVID, people still need to have their planes inspected. So business has been good.”

The same could be said for the Petaluma Municipal Airport’s operations, which, like Mangon Aircraft Inc., is relatively unscathed by the coronavirus crisis.

Airport Manager Daniel Cohen said about 60% of the airport’s activity originates from tenants, including businesses like Mangon’s as well as the roughly 230 hangar occupants. The remaining 40% he attributes to visitors. That includes leisurely fliers taking a spin and business-related travel, as well as shipping operations and firefighting aircraft.

Aside from the first paralyzing month of the shelter-in-place order announced mid-March, the approximately 220-acre airport tucked along the northeastern edge of the city is humming, albeit in a slightly altered pitch. While Mangon is enjoying much of his regular business, other sectors of the airport have seen shifts in response to the pandemic.

Cohen said the city-run fuel services are rebounding after plummeting in April and May, citing what he calls a slow return of visitor aircraft.

“I think people are looking for outlets right now, for things to do on the weekends,” Cohen said. “We’ve also seen an increase in point-to-point charters, which is probably related to COVID, for people to get around without going to a commercial airport.”

In a Gallup poll released early August, a majority of 6,500 Americans that flew in the past year said they are not comfortable stepping back on a plane anytime soon. The Centers on Disease Control cautions that travel increases the chances of contracting and spreading COVID-19, pointing to the time spent in security lines and in airport terminals, which make social distancing difficult.

For those willing to take the risk, they’re facing significant cuts in commercial flights. Flight tracking website FlightAware.com reported a 46% drop in commercial airline traffic between August 2019 and August 2020.

Just last month, United Airlines announced it will temporarily halt by the end of October all service at Santa Rosa’s Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, the county’s only commercial hub.

Mangon said he’s also seen an increase in people using charters specifically to avoid using commercial airlines – either because of health concerns or because they were unable to find a suitable flight.

He now gets an average of two calls a week from people interested in charter flights. Before the pandemic, he’d only get a handful of those inquiries per year.

The runway’s more utilitarian uses have expanded to include regular shipping operations as well, averaging more than 60,000 pounds of outgoing air cargo each month, he said.

The Two Niner Diner, popular among visitors to the airport for nearly 30 years, is closing for the winter Nov. 2, after adapting to outdoor dining requirements. The business is eyeing an April 2021 reopening date.

Cohen said the airport has been an important base for firefighting efforts over the past few years, including this summer. During the Woodward Fire in August, which burned about 4,900 acres of wilderness in Point Reyes National Seashore, the airport hosted six U.S. Department of Forestry firefighting helicopters and acted as their base of operations.

While Ron Mangon and his son, David Mangon, continue to work on a steady flow of aircraft needing check-ups and repairs, the business has experienced its own brush with pandemic-related issues, which have considerably crippled some supply chains and manufacturers.

“What used to take a week can now take a month because we can’t get our hands on a specific part,” Ron Mangon said. “I also get calls from other shops, asking if we’ve got this or that, because they can’t find it.”

His phone is also ringing off the hook with inquiries about his company’s flight school, Petaluma Pilot Training Center, also on the airport property. Following a 6-week closure in the spring, Rob Mangon said the school is up and running again. The waiting list now spans up to two months. Keeping with the family-owned model started in 1988 by Ron’s father, Walter Mangon, his daughter, Danielle Kertz, oversees the flight school.

According to the city, the airport supports 37 full- or part-time jobs, 15 of which are with Magnon Aircraft, Inc., totaling $1.2 million in payroll. Unlike many businesses in Petaluma, neither have had to issue any lay-offs, according to Cohen and Mangon. The airport also received around $70,000 in federal CARES Act funding to assist with essential operation costs in April.

Longtime airport commissioner Tom McGaw said although the number of takeoffs and landings are still not what they used to be, most operations have rebounded after an uncertain spring.

It’s a hopeful sight for McGaw, a pilot who is heavily invested in the city-owned airport and its strong flying community. The Petaluma Area Pilot’s Association, which has up to 100 members, has been unable to hold many of its fly-in events and other social gatherings. Their “Display Day” events that welcome residents to check out small aircraft have been canceled, a tradition that McGaw sees as crucial in educating the public about the airport’s operation and instilling interest in aviation.

“We’re a big flying family here, people might call us ‘wing nuts’, but we’re a group of people in the area who take a strong interest in aviating,” he said. “We bond over this shared experience and interest and desire to keep things going at the airport, and we’ll keep working to make sure people know about this city-owned property that does so much.”

(Contact Kathryn Palmer at kathryn.palmer@arguscourier.com, on Twitter @KathrynPlmr.)

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