GREENWOOD — A Greenwood flight school is in need of a new home after being given notice of eviction from the Greenwood Municipal Airport.
Jeff Air has been operating as an accredited flight school at the airport for 14 years and after a January 9th Board of Aviation Commissioners meeting was told their lease was being terminated and they have 60 days to find a new home. Jeff Air says they had no notice the eviction was coming.
“All of a sudden someone just decides one day that you’re not good enough to be in business here is really how it felt,” said David Jeffries, the owner of Jeff Air.
Jeff Air is authorized to accept post 9/11 GI Bill benefits and partners with Indiana Wesleyan University. Jeffries says training for those students may have to be put on hold if they have to move.
“It’s not an easy process to be authorized by the VA. It takes to be in location for 24 months and you have to have that air certificate from the FAA,” said Jeffries.
“That’s going to hurt me and other veterans because we’re currently in training, so if the school has to move it’s my understanding training will have to stop for six months to a year,” said Arnaldo Collazo, a Jeff Air student.
Collazo is an army veteran and using his GI benefit to become a commercial airline pilot. He says finding out about the eviction notice was frustrating.
Jeff Air says they generate about $300,000 in revenue in fuel sales for the airport and about $100,000 in sales tax revenue to the city.
They are trying to hold on to the Greenwood location as long as they can for their veteran students and are hoping to get an extension from the aviation board.
WATCH | Learn how veterans are impacted after the flight school was evicted from Greenwood Airport
In a statement, Scott Hines, Board President of the Board of Aviation Commissioners says:
“The Board has plans for growth which require more terminal space. At its regular public meeting on January 9, 2025, the Board of Aviation Commissioners voted against extending the Jeff Air lease. The matter was properly noticed in the published agenda and no Jeff Air representative appeared to make a case for extending the agreement.
The Board has offered alternative space in existing buildings at the airport to Jeff Air.”
