The terminal lobby at Richmond International Airport. (Courtesy Todd Wright/RIC)
There appears to be progress in clearing up at least some of the turbulence between Richmond International Airport and its two fixed-base operators, Richmond Jet Center and Million Air Richmond.
The Capital Region Airport Commission is expected this week to consider a resolution that would allow RIC to negotiate a lease extension and renovation plan for Richmond Jet Center’s facilities at 5745 Huntsman Road.
That’s according to the commission’s agenda for its regular February meeting, set for Tuesday morning.
The resolution would not formally approve a new lease, but rather permit airport CEO Perry Miller’s office to enter into an agreement that would extend RJC’s lease by five years and include provisions to allow for renovations of its longtime facilities on RIC-owned land.
A similar agreement with Million Air, which is RJC’s main competitor at 400 Portugee Road, is said to be in the works, according to sources familiar with the talks. However, a Million Air-related resolution is not on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting.
While the full terms of those extension agreements would still need to be ironed out, sources said last week that they would each include a five-year lease extension and some form of renovation cost-sharing between the FBOs and RIC.
Should the two agreements be memorialized, they would help put at least a five-year hold on a controversy that bubbled up last year after Miller’s hot-button proposal to assume in-house control of all FBO services at the airport.
Miller’s plan would have amounted to a government-run monopoly controlling the bulk of the services at the small but busy airport and potentially putting privately-owned RJC and Million Air out of business.
Richmond Jet Center’s RIC facilities.
FBOs are the little-known, behind-the-scenes operations that help keep both private jets and commercial airliners running at RIC and airports across the country.
RJC and Million Air have been in business at RIC since the 1940s and 1990s, respectively.
They compete for general aviation and business aviation customers – those flying small private aircraft – and the large commercial airlines that fly into Richmond. For the big airlines, the two FBOs store fuel and work on equipment such as belt loaders, tugs, de-icers and stairs. They also provide on-call maintenance for the airlines 24 hours a day.
For private jets, they provide fueling, storage, maintenance and a terminal and parking area for the passengers and pilots of those smaller craft.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires that airports allow for more than one privately run FBO to ensure competition in price and service. The only way around that is when an airport decides to bring those services in-house.
Last year, before going fully public with the in-house plan, RIC issued and subsequently cancelled two RFPs for proposals from private bidders to build new FBO facilities on the airport’s east side. That’s opposite from where RJC and Million Air’s facilities are currently located.
The first RFP sought two private operators, while the second requested a single operator.
Both Million Air and RJC were among the respondents to the RFPs. Million Air proposed a new $30 million facility, while RJC pitched a $17 million project.
But both RFPs’ rounds were cancelled with little explanation, leaving the respondents bewildered.
Soon after, Million Air and RJC said they were thrown for a loop when they received a letter informing them that the commission would be voting just days later on a proposal to create an airport-run FBO beginning Feb. 1, 2026. That’s when Million Air and RJC’s current leases expire.
Both companies immediately went on the defensive, arguing the proposal will effectively force them to shut down.
The fight between Miller and the FBOs turned into a public mess, with aviation industry representatives and others flooding Miller’s office, as well as members of the airport commission, with letters of concern.
Miller ultimately relented and asked that the matter be deferred until short-term options could be brought to the table.
Million Air’s RIC facilities.
The initial result is the five-year extension that’ll be discussed by the commission tomorrow.
The resolution included in the agenda shows the lease for RJC and its fuel storage sister company Aero Industries would be extended from Feb. 1, 2026 to Jan. 31, 2031.
RJC would pay annual rent of $582,000 with an annual escalation of around 3%. RJC would also pay 60 equal monthly payments of $2,200 for roof improvements at its facilities. Those payments would be reimbursed by the commission.
The document also briefly mentions additional, unspecified improvements to RJC’s facility, the cost of which would be born by RJC but credited toward its rent payments.
RJC representatives declined to comment prior to Tuesday’s commission meeting.
An airport spokesman said the commission declined to comment, other than to acknowledge that an FBO-related item is on Tuesday’s agenda.
The terminal lobby at Richmond International Airport. (Courtesy Todd Wright/RIC)
There appears to be progress in clearing up at least some of the turbulence between Richmond International Airport and its two fixed-base operators, Richmond Jet Center and Million Air Richmond.
The Capital Region Airport Commission is expected this week to consider a resolution that would allow RIC to negotiate a lease extension and renovation plan for Richmond Jet Center’s facilities at 5745 Huntsman Road.
That’s according to the commission’s agenda for its regular February meeting, set for Tuesday morning.
The resolution would not formally approve a new lease, but rather permit airport CEO Perry Miller’s office to enter into an agreement that would extend RJC’s lease by five years and include provisions to allow for renovations of its longtime facilities on RIC-owned land.
A similar agreement with Million Air, which is RJC’s main competitor at 400 Portugee Road, is said to be in the works, according to sources familiar with the talks. However, a Million Air-related resolution is not on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting.
While the full terms of those extension agreements would still need to be ironed out, sources said last week that they would each include a five-year lease extension and some form of renovation cost-sharing between the FBOs and RIC.
Should the two agreements be memorialized, they would help put at least a five-year hold on a controversy that bubbled up last year after Miller’s hot-button proposal to assume in-house control of all FBO services at the airport.
Miller’s plan would have amounted to a government-run monopoly controlling the bulk of the services at the small but busy airport and potentially putting privately-owned RJC and Million Air out of business.
Richmond Jet Center’s RIC facilities.
FBOs are the little-known, behind-the-scenes operations that help keep both private jets and commercial airliners running at RIC and airports across the country.
RJC and Million Air have been in business at RIC since the 1940s and 1990s, respectively.
They compete for general aviation and business aviation customers – those flying small private aircraft – and the large commercial airlines that fly into Richmond. For the big airlines, the two FBOs store fuel and work on equipment such as belt loaders, tugs, de-icers and stairs. They also provide on-call maintenance for the airlines 24 hours a day.
For private jets, they provide fueling, storage, maintenance and a terminal and parking area for the passengers and pilots of those smaller craft.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires that airports allow for more than one privately run FBO to ensure competition in price and service. The only way around that is when an airport decides to bring those services in-house.
Last year, before going fully public with the in-house plan, RIC issued and subsequently cancelled two RFPs for proposals from private bidders to build new FBO facilities on the airport’s east side. That’s opposite from where RJC and Million Air’s facilities are currently located.
The first RFP sought two private operators, while the second requested a single operator.
Both Million Air and RJC were among the respondents to the RFPs. Million Air proposed a new $30 million facility, while RJC pitched a $17 million project.
But both RFPs’ rounds were cancelled with little explanation, leaving the respondents bewildered.
Soon after, Million Air and RJC said they were thrown for a loop when they received a letter informing them that the commission would be voting just days later on a proposal to create an airport-run FBO beginning Feb. 1, 2026. That’s when Million Air and RJC’s current leases expire.
Both companies immediately went on the defensive, arguing the proposal will effectively force them to shut down.
The fight between Miller and the FBOs turned into a public mess, with aviation industry representatives and others flooding Miller’s office, as well as members of the airport commission, with letters of concern.
Miller ultimately relented and asked that the matter be deferred until short-term options could be brought to the table.
Million Air’s RIC facilities.
The initial result is the five-year extension that’ll be discussed by the commission tomorrow.
The resolution included in the agenda shows the lease for RJC and its fuel storage sister company Aero Industries would be extended from Feb. 1, 2026 to Jan. 31, 2031.
RJC would pay annual rent of $582,000 with an annual escalation of around 3%. RJC would also pay 60 equal monthly payments of $2,200 for roof improvements at its facilities. Those payments would be reimbursed by the commission.
The document also briefly mentions additional, unspecified improvements to RJC’s facility, the cost of which would be born by RJC but credited toward its rent payments.
RJC representatives declined to comment prior to Tuesday’s commission meeting.
An airport spokesman said the commission declined to comment, other than to acknowledge that an FBO-related item is on Tuesday’s agenda.
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I’m a relatively frequent B concourse RIC passenger, and would much more prefer that before trying to take on more responsibilities, Mr Miller and his folks figure out how to 1) address the general restroom lack of cleanliness, 2) stay on top of the water bottle filler filters, which are chronically slow, and 3) figure out how to handle snow so that when it happens 25% of the daily parking capacity doesn’t go offline. While the passenger experience at RIC likely has little impact on demand, when you’re standing in a puddle of someone else’s pee and then there’s no… Read more »
You’re better off using the pet relief area outside than step in to one of the bathrooms in the airport. Yuck.
I haven’t flown out of RIC in a good while. But the conditions you describe beg the question: where the hell is the CRAC on relatively mundane issues like these? If the CRAC-heads can’t manage to ensure the airport’s CEO runs a tight ship, and all the basic amenities are addressed, how can the public have any confidence in the management of air facilities anywhere in the region?
Another attempt by a bureaucratic to expand their fiefdom, and gain more control and power hence money.
I fly out of RIC fairly regularly and I know air traffic continues to increase which is a good thing for the region. I must agree with other commenters. Over the past few years the overall cleanliness of the airport has gone down. This seems to have happened under the current leadership RIC could be an asset to the region if we make the customer experience better.. including attracting better food and beverage options.