The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is fighting the sudden eviction of tenants from Aeroflex-Andover Airport (12N) in New Jersey, one of only two general aviation facilities in Sussex County.
AOPA said Monday that its representatives last week met with senior advisers to New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherill to communicate airport tenants’ concerns about the situation. The state Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Forest Fire Service notified tenants in June that they would be evicted and that many of the hangars would be demolished due to “critical repair and condition issues.” Only the Forest Fire Service would be able to use the remaining hangar space.
The NJDEP, which owns the airport, sent formal eviction notices to tenants in September, giving them until December 31 to vacate. It has not mentioned plans to close the airport entirely, but AOPA believes the move could shutter a local flight school and maintenance shop.
“We appreciate Governor Sherrill’s staff taking the time to meet with us,” said Sean Collins, AOPA’s Eastern regional manager. “The governor’s team asked engaging and relevant questions about the airport, its operations, and what its future could look like.”
According to the Forest Fire Service, more than 50 private aircraft are based at Andover Aeroflex, which has a full-service FBO that offers tie-down and hangar storage, 100LL fuel, maintenance, and instruction. Per AOPA, many of the aircraft cannot be stored outside because they are vintage and covered in fabric.
The Fire Service operates nine Grumman Ag-Cats, two Bell 206 Jet Rangers, two Bell 205 Hueys, a Bell 47, and two fixed-wing observation aircraft based across three New Jersey airports. According to NJ.com, it has 18 permits for private aircraft storage in the hangar space at Aeroflex.
A spokesperson for the NJDEP said in a statement to NJ.com that the department “received information from the community and is open to further assessing how those needs can be safely accommodated, particularly for the two businesses.”
“We heard no indication that the governor wants to shutter local businesses…and her team appears to be seeking alternatives to the NJDEP plan,” said Collins. “We also urged her staff to hold an in-person meeting with local stakeholders to discuss Aeroflex-Andover and broader concerns about the New Jersey airport system.”
Three state legislators have asked NJDEP to allow an outside entity to manage the airport. The 70-year-old site has two runways and is located on 12 acres.
Bipartisan Support
AOPA’s stance is that the hangars should be repaired rather than torn down.
Leon Jackler, the group’s vice president of airports and state advocacy, said Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Andover Township Mayor Thomas Walsh, New Jersey State Senator Parker Space, and two state assembly members also support preserving the hangars.
Jackler said earlier in October following a visit to Aeroflex that the hangars “may need some minor repairs and updates” but are in “overall excellent shape.”
“I expected to walk into dilapidated hangars that were falling apart, but that’s not remotely what I found,” he said.
During a news conference at the airport earlier this month, Gottheimer said repairing the hangars would cost roughly $4.7 million, citing an engineering assessment conducted by the state. He said it would cost $8 million to tear them down and more than $11 million to build a new Fire Service facility.
Per NJ.com, the cost to tear down and rebuild the airport’s hangars and control tower was estimated in 2024 at $10.9 million. But that has ballooned to about $12 million in 2026.
Gottheimer sent a letter to Sherill and NJDEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak urging them to rescind the eviction notices. They were sent to aircraft owners, the airport’s maintenance shop, and the woman-owned Andover Flight Academy. The flight school is the only site within 100 miles that teaches military pilots how to land on short runways and in open fields, and it once trained actor Harrison Ford for a film role.
Gottheimer said he asked the NJDEP to work with Sherill’s office, tenants, and his office to preserve the facilities, contending that New Jersey is already short on hangar space. He said a licensed engineer found the buildings to be in fair condition, with no outstanding code violations, and assessed that targeted repairs would cost only about $267,000.
“I’m frustrated, and so are the people standing next to me,” said Gottheimer, who was joined by tenants. “I’m not going to let you guys get thrown out. It’s not happening. We’re going to fight this thing.”
Gottheimer also asked the NJDEP to tour the facility and elucidate its rationale behind the decision to evict tenants. He said that his office has received little information despite requests for further clarity and a timeline of the project.
The department claimed portions of Aeroflex lacked running water. But Gottheimer said his tour of the facility revealed otherwise. He found the flight school office to be in acceptable condition despite NJDEP’s claims to the contrary. He took videos to support his contentions.
Gottheimer also said that according to NJDEP, the Fire Service is “sharing space and had their items placed in a corner of the hangar,” but he found there to be plenty of space in the service’s dedicated hangar area. A department spokesperson told NJ.com that Gottheimer visited during a stretch of wet weather and that assets housed there did “not represent the space needed during periods of peak fire activity or at other periods of time involving more intense operational needs.”
However, the NJDEP has indicated its openness to reexamining the evictions, and AOPA has vowed to support tenants.
“Amid a nationwide hangar shortage, the impending closure of a private airport in the state, and the economic benefits that GA provides for local communities, we will continue to work to reverse this short-sighted decision,” Jackler said in a statement earlier this month.