The runway and buildings off Monroe Landing Road, commonly known as the Oak Harbor airport, is no longer formally named the Wes Lupien Airport.
After seven years of court battles, the ownership of the airport is finally clear and free. Seattle businessman Joel Eisenberg, a pilot and airplane enthusiast, renamed the airport after himself. It’s now the A J Eisenberg Airport; his legal name is Arthur Joel Eisenberg.
Eisenberg has big plans for improving the airport and luring pilots of small airplanes to the area. He’s planning a fly-in event and dedication celebration on Sept. 12 and 13.
“Finally the ownership cloud is gone,” Eisenberg said. “We want to revitalize it and make it a destination place for the Northwest.”
To get the attention of pilots, the airport is offering the least expensive airplane fuel in the state. Eisenberg said gas purchases at the airport have greatly increased over the last few weeks.
“Fuel is a huge thing. It’s not provided at every airport,” Geri Morgan, an Oak Harbor Realtor and wife of an airplane enthusiast, said. “Pilots really do their research when they are planning their trips.”
Eisenberg plans to build another building at the airport this summer. The 16,000-square-foot structure would house 15 new hangars, in addition to the current 20. He said there’s a waiting list already.
Eisenberg also said he hopes to work with local businesses to integrate the airport with the community. The airport is already a member of the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He wants to make it easy for people arriving in small aircraft to visit Oak Harbor and the rest of Whidbey. He plans to have rental cars available, as well as transportation to local lodging.
The new airport owner said he’s hopeful that Kenmore Air will return to the airport and offer flights again.
Craig O’Neill, director of marketing and sales for the airline, said the company has been working with the Department of Defense to get Kenmore greater visibility in the military’s travel system. The lack of military ridership was one of the reasons the airline stopped flying out of Oak Harbor.
“We certainly haven’t closed the door on any options in Oak Harbor,” O’Neill said, “but we have no definite plans or timeline to come back.”
The turbulence at the airport started in 2001 when Gig Harbor-based Harbor Air abruptly ceased operations at the airport after falling into financial trouble. The company, owned by Rick Boehlke, controlled the property and flew commercial flights from the airport.
The airport was scheduled for auction in 2001 after Harbor Air stopped paying the mortgage, but Air International LLC, owned by Eisenberg, swooped in to purchased the debt. That kicked off endless rounds of litigation over the ownership and debt. The final lawsuit was resolved earlier this year.
