Officials fear loss of jobs, following European flight school revocation

Ormond Beach Observer
Business

If the school, which is housed at the Ormond Beach Municipal Airport, were taken over by a domestic airline, jobs could be saved, Economic Development Director Joe Mannarino said.

BY WAYNE GRANT | STAFF WRITER

The future remains uncertain for one of the two flight schools located at Ormond Beach Municipal Airport.

The Euro American School of Aviation Inc., at 770 Airport Road, was forced to ground its planes last month after its certificate was revoked by the European Aviation Safety Agency, an organization similar to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The school was unable to meet new, more stringent guidelines by the agency, but President Adrian Thompson has said it will appeal the revocation.

City leaders are concerned about losing business at the airport if the school cannot regain its certification.

“I hope (Thompson) sells it to a domestic flight school,” said Joe Mannarino, Ormond Beach director of economic development.

The school owns about 20 airplanes, operates a fuel depot and has some infrastructure. The land is owned by the city.

The school closing for good would be like losing any other business in town, Mannarino added. In addition to employing teachers, it brings 30-40 out-of-city students to town every eight weeks who spend money locally on food and housing.

“It’s a trickle-down effect in the economy,” Mannarino said.

Lease payments made by the school are not a factor, however, Mannarino said, because the school subleases space from another company.

The only other school headquarted at the airport is Sunrise Aviation, according to Airport Director Steven Lichliter. Other schools, such as Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, use the airport for training but are not based there.

There are several European flight schools in Florida and all are struggling with the new regulations, Lichliter said.

At European flight schools, the pilots train to European standards to become commercial pilots. On the Euro School of American Aviation website, Thompson wrote that the European Aviation Safety Agency is making the regulations more stringent to force all schools outside the European Union to close down.