Penn State plans to sell the State College Regional Airport to the Centre County Airport Authority, pending federal approval, as part of the university's continued efforts to reign in its spending and focus on its central academic missions.
Currently, Penn State owns the nearby airport and is responsible for its administration, operations, maintenance and security. The Centre County Airport Authority owns and operates the airport terminal and oversees commercial airline operations and parking.
Penn State’s Board of Trustees approved the sale to the authority on Thursday. During that meeting, Sara Thorndike, the university’s chief financial officer, said it is “very unusual” for a university to own an airport, especially when the university does not have an academic aviation program.
“To focus on our core academic and research missions, the university believes the airport can be more successful with one owner," Thorndike said.
A Penn State release online said the university has been exploring areas for potential efficiencies in its finances and operations to best serve its students.
“Operation of the airport, while vital to the continued success of the university, does not directly support that core educational mission," Thorndike said.
Chris Groshel, who chairs the airport authority’s board of directors, spoke Friday at a press conference in the airport.
“With this transition, the authority is determined to build on that tradition that Penn State started, believing that one entity managing their entire airport can conduct that function much more efficiently," Groshel said.
The authority will not pay for the acquisition, but it will repay Penn State for any outstanding debts from operating the airport.
Ralph Stewart, the airport’s interim executive director, said their board approved the terms of Penn State’s sale on Thursday night. Those terms include giving the university an ongoing role in the operations and governance of the airport.
“They’re actually going to be an ex-officio member of our board," Stewart said. "We must work with Penn State. We want to work with Penn State. They are the economic development engine in the county, if not the region.”
Penn State will also remain a member of the recently launched State College Air Service Alliance.
Thorndike said in Penn State's release about the proposed sale, that the airport authority is not obligated to keep the impacted employees.
"There are currently 20 full time and 12 part-time university employees working at the airport," Thorndike said. "The employment of university employees assigned to the airport will terminate upon the closing of the transaction before closing." She said the employees could apply for jobs with the university.
But Stewart said he does not expect layoffs from the transition and that the authority will approach any current Penn State employees and ask if they want to stay in their positions.
The proposed sale is subject to approval by the Federal Aviation Administration, which could take several months. Airport officials say the public should not notice any disruption to services.
