New Dover Air Force Base Joint Use Agreement closer than ever with the City of Dover

DOVER—After a decade of preparation, the city of Dover is closer than ever to a joint-use agreement with Dover Air Force Base. This agreement would allow commercial flights to and from the base’s air base.

Dover City Manager David Hugg gave City Council members an update during Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

“This has been an adventure of at least a decade and I say adventure because we have worked with DelDOT, the River and Bay Authority, the Department of Defense and all their various attorneys with help from Senator Carper, Senator Coons, Representative Blunt-Rochester and others,” Mr Hugg said.

He said the agreement is now on the Secretary of Defense’s desk, awaiting final signing, after which things can begin almost immediately. It will enable civil aircraft of all sizes.

This would not be the first time an agreement like this had been made, as a similar arrangement was in place in 1982 and saw little use. But Mr Hugg said the 50-year lifespan of this agreement makes the location perfect for the maintenance and transport industry. to Dover.

The agreement also allows long-term parking for civilian aircraft, a restriction in the 1982 version of the agreement, which Mr Hugg said would expire in 2020 but had a series of extensions added.

“It costs about $30,000 round trip to move a plane from Dover to (major airports) and back under the old arrangement,” Mr Hugg said. “Atlas (Air) in particular would fly over and unload a load of flowers and then they would have to leave the airbase, I think, within five or six hours and fly somewhere else for the night and come back to pick up the airbase. another shipment.”

Dover Mayor Robin R. Christiansen also expressed his opinion on the agreement, noting the jobs the agreement would create.

“One of the things we have to offer, as Mr Hugg said, is a captive audience of people who, when they retire with the skills they have in aircraft repair and loading and unloading aircraft, departure. We want to keep them here,” Mayor Christiansen said. “We want them to use our corporate funds. We want them to be part of the fabric of our community, to help improve our schools and make Dover a better place to live, work and play.”

He also notes that job creation would not just be limited to those with prior experience, creating a workforce that could eventually replace aging predecessors.

“We will be working with Capital School District, Polytech and Del Tech to create jobs for the youth in the community who don’t necessarily want to go to college but would rather (repair, load and unload aircraft).”

The mayor had a positive view of Dover’s future, helped by this agreement.

“We are the center of the universe,” said Mayor Christiansen. “We’re close to all the major cities, both air and land, and I think we have everything. I think that’s why they’re looking at us.”

Councilor Andre Boggerty, a former Air Force mechanic himself, also commented on the positives of the agreement.

“Having just left Charleston, South Carolina, it’s a vibrant area. And part of the reason it’s so busy is because the civilian jobs are with Boeing and other aircraft companies. When you land in Charleston, you see half the base and the other half (commercial),” Councilman Boggerty said. “I’m excited because I know there are a lot of people I was stationed with. The only reason they left is because there wasn’t room for many of us to land after our careers in the military.”

The agreement would eliminate a landing fee as well as the requirement for early notice to the base for incoming flights. It would allow 25,000 takeoffs and landings per year.

Mr Hugg did not see traditional passenger flights coming to the base in the near future, but charter flights were on the table.