Vee Neal Aviation proposes growth with flight school, aircraft hangar at Unity airport

Jeff Himler, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read

Apr. 11—Vee Neal Aviation is looking to grow its commercial aviation operations at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, with expanded aircraft hangar space and a flight school.

The Westmoreland County Airport Authority, which operates the airport in Unity, on Tuesday granted Vee Neal development partner Jodaron Realty an exclusive two-year option to construct two new hangars at the southern end of the airport. Jodaron will pay the authority

a nonrefundable $5,000 consideration for the option.

"We're planning on additional growth with the chartered division and management division and, hopefully, growth in the flight school, as well," said Vee Neal representative R.J. Repasky.

In 2021, the authority approved a new agreement with Vee Neal to continue as a fixed-base operator — a company that provides aviation services — at the Palmer airport for another 10 years, with an additional five-year option. The company has provided aircraft sales and services since 1967, including chartering flights and managing and maintaining aircraft.

Repasky said one of the proposed new hangars would house a flight school, "which evidently is needed in the whole aviation industry."

The Associated Press reported government officials have estimated there will be about 18,000 openings annually for airline and commercial pilots this decade, as veteran pilots retire. But the Federal Aviation Administration issued on average only half that number of pilot licenses from 2017 through 2021.

With its new school space, Repasky said, Vee Neal could potentially add about seven flight instructors to four who are already on board.

"The big benefit of it is the additional pilots that will be in the industry, several hundred pilots," he said.

Before proceeding with the new hangars, he said, "We've got to get through the engineering and all the legal parts of it."

Based on plans for the new hangars, authority engineer Scott Kunselman said each would occupy about 15,000 square feet.

He said the proposed development could be part of an eventual move to group corporate hangers and smaller T-shaped hangars in separate locations.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff by email at jhimler@triblive.com or via Twitter .