"rjciii" wrote in message
om...
"Jim Kellett" wrote in message
...
Has any US-based gliding club been involved with a public airport's
switching to a "dutch auction" for its hangars on an annual basis?

See if there is anything you can use in FAA Order 5190.6A WRT to
Sponsor Assurances wording (I paraphrase): Airport owners must
provide fair and equitable access to any and all airport facilities to
all airport users without discriminating against any aviation
activity.

If the airport has accepted federal funding for airport improvements
(which I'm pretty sure every public airport in this country has) then
the airport owner/operator must comply with FAA Order 5190.6A, which
mandates that the owner must provide equal access to airport
facilities on a fair and equitable basis. Therefore, the airport
cannot charge more for like hangar space to one user than another.
Nor can they assess a charge to one user using a different formula to
derive the charge.

I suggest you apprise the airport management of their federal funding
obligations and contact your FAA ADO Airports Compliance Officer.

RD

A Dutch Auction does not "charge more for like hangar space to one user than
another". It charges all of the successful bidders the same price as the
lowest successful bidder. The marginal bidder gets what he wanted at the
price he was willing to pay. Those who bid higher get what they wanted a
price below what they were willing to pay. Those who bid less than the
marginal bidder did not want/need it bad enough. Overall a pretty fair and
efficient method to distribute a valuable resource.