Operations at and around Kissimmee Gateway Airport were a topic of conversation at last week’s City Commission meeting, and are expected to be again when it convenes Tuesday.
A pair of items regarding the airport’s landing fees charged to aircraft not based at the airport to land there, pulled from the consent agenda, only received a 2-2 vote with Commissioner Carlos Alvarez III absent and did not pass.
And city leaders heard from a representative from the firm chosen to develop a hotel across Martin Luther King Boulevard from the airport—a project that’s seen little to no movement since breaking ground almost two years ago.
Despite concerns and outcry from pilots who use the airport, the city gave it the go-ahead to charge “transient” pilots and planes $3 per 1,000 pounds of aircraft weight at landing, or $20 per helicopter operation starting Feb. 1, 2025. (Typical general aviation craft that land at the airport weigh 2,000 to 3,000 pounds, resulting in a $6-9 charge per landing.)
Last week’s item was to increase the fee to $3.75 per 1,000 pounds, and amend its contract with Vector Airport Systems to identify transient aircraft, invoice and collect the revenues.
As a general aviation facility without commercial service, the airport’s options for raising revenue are limited, and an enterprise fund, it must subsist on the fees it charges as it does not receive city or public funds to operate outside of a federal grant of $150,000 that has not changed in some 15 years.
A pair of pilots who spoke at the meeting said charging pilots for doing things like touch-and-go landings affects safety.
“Over the last two years this airport has chosen to place easy revenue over safety. Pilots are getting surprise bills weeks after landing rather than settling up when leaving Gateway Airport,” Don Frano said.
He said one of the impacts of the landing fees has been a higher number of empty airplane hangars; he also noted their rents had increased “almost 300%”, a figure the News-Gazette is working to verify.
“I know pilots who have le this airport behind. It used to be a fun place where pilots would hang out and fly out for lunch,” Frano said. “That environment is totally gone now. This has become a dead airport.”
Airport Director Shaun Germolus said outside of usual upkeep, the airport must match of federal funds it’s going to receive to start and maintain a U.S. Customs operation.
“The rates and charges address our minimum service standards,” he said, noting tenants and subtenants operating at the airport pay fees to do so.
“We started at $3 per 1,000 pounds. We know we could charge higher, but no other airports in the area are charging right now, so we’re sensitive to what we charge. We feel the $3.75 will assist us in (maintaining funding).”
The first 19 months of fee collection brought in was $732,076, or about $38,530 monthly, Germolus said.
“It’s about 25 percent of our budget, and with the programs we have in place and the financial needs, it’s important that we maintain this fee structure.”
Both he and City Manager Mike Steigerwald said landing operations were up from 2024 to 2025 but are down about 11% in 2026; Germolus suggested significantly higher fuel prices are a factor.
“I don’t care to hear that implementing a landing fee discourages safety and flight instruction,” Germolus said.
Commissioners Janette Martinez and Angela Eady voted to approve the proposal, while Commissioner Noel Ortiz and Mayor Jackie Espinosa voted against. Ortiz said he wanted to wait to get Alvarez’s input, while Espinosa asked Germolus to meet with the pilots before the Oct. 6 meeting on a counter proposal, which is expected to come to commissioners next meeting.
The city also heard from Chief Operating Officer Tim Leonard of Kissimmee Place Development Group, who said it “remains committed” to developing a four-story, 122-room Hyatt Studio Hotel across the street from the airport administration building. City leaders held a groundbreaking ceremony on July 8, 2025, but since then little to no work has occurred at the site.
At an Aug. 25 budget workshop, city officials requested a project update, followed by a Notice of Non-Compliance letter to KPDG regarding the project’s failure to progress in accordance with the schedule contained within the lease agreement.
“We recognize the city’s concern about the time that has passed, and the work remaining before constructions begin,” Leonard said. “KPDG understands the seriousness of the city’s concerns and importance of a clear and achievable path forward.”
He said a legal response from the company due soon to the city, in time for an update at Tuesday’s meeting, would address the city’s concerns.
But, that didn’t placate Espinosa.
“The way this looks just doesn’t give a lot of confidence in this project at this point. It’s our obligation to hold people to these contracts, and the dates in this one have been extended,” she said. “I think we’ve given enough grace, and I think two weeks is enough time.
“I was excited about this project …until I’m not.”
