Monthly archives for July, 2026

Aerodyne is latest business to be unfairly pushed from Renton airport

Jul08
2026 3 Comments

Written by Randy Corman

“Pathfinder” statue of Clayton Scott standing in front of Renton’s Aerodyne complex where Mr. Scott had his last Renton office. Our airport’s official name is Renton Municipal Airport Clayton Scott Field.

For the third time in two years, a thriving decade’s-old aviation business is being pushed out of Renton Airport unfairly, with Renton airport officials giving fake or grossly misleading rationalizations. The latest falsehood is printed on a letter with the Mayor’s name in the letterhead. It appears to have been contrived by the Airport Manager and Public Works Director, and is easily disproved with a city document. It’s past time for Renton Council to investigate and stop this pattern, and require these city employees to stick to the truth. The continued dishonesty reflects negatively on city government, and leaves many residents wondering if there is a hidden agenda at the airport.

Renton’s Aerodyne hangar and office complex has hosted many thriving aviation business ventures and significant aircraft for 42 years. Clayton Scott, namesake for Renton’s airfield, had an office at Aerodyne. Aerodyne’s long success is linked to its many strong leaders and partners, including some powerhouses in aviation circles. The company and its leaders have promoted aviation in Renton, advanced aerospace research and design, supported aviation education, modeled high standards for aircraft service and maintenance, and demonstrated overall commitment to advancing safety and efficiency in air travel.

On a tour of Aerodyne’s hangar in 2019

But Renton Airport Management now wants Aerodyne’s facilities vacated by next month, to then sit abandoned and producing no aviation activity and revenue, probably for years. This is the path that the former Rainier Flight Services Headquarters, the Landing Gear Works Manufacturing Building, and the Landing Gear Works installation hangars have been on for up to two years and counting.

Aerodyne’s hangar (Photo courtesy of Gary Palmer)

THE PHONEY REASON FOR ENDING AERODYNE’S 42-YEAR LEASE:

Renton Airport Management sent a letter to Aerodyne stating that Aerodyne must leave specifically “to meet runway safety area requirements as they relate to the goals of the Airport Layout Plan.” But this is not true.

Excerpt from Airport Management letter to Aerodyne, falsely claiming their building needs to be demolished to meet FAA standards (letter dated May 28, 2026)

In stark contrast to the stated reason for sending Aerodyne packing, Renton’s FAA-approved Airport Layout Plan shows that the Runway meets safety clearance standards with Aerodyne exactly where it is.

This chart from the Airport Layout Plan shows the Aerodyne facility is safely outside of the Runway Safety Area and Runway Object Free Area

This excerpt from the Airport Layout Plan shows there is no interference with AeroDyne and the Runway Safety areas.

This Airport Layout Plan summary says the runway meets “most dimensional standards” with small exceptions because of the river and because the airport does not own the property south of the airport (the Runway Safety Zone).

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PLAN FOR THE AERODYNE BUILDING:

In 2019 we faced the possibility that Renton’s runway would be reclassified from “B’ to “D”, and would need to be 1000 feet longer; the runway would have eliminated Airport Way and potentially extended nearly to South Second Street. The longer runway would also have needed wider “Runway Object Free Areas,” which would have necessitated removing about 15 feet of Aerodyne’s hangar. But the threat of this reclassification went away as the annual number of jet operations declined at Renton Airport, primarily due to Boeing’s reduced manufacturing rates. If the airport gets classified as a “D” in the future it will directly conflict with the new $500,000,000 Renton High School. Aerodyne’s hangar would be the least of our worries.

The Airport Layout Plan does show Aerodyne’s building potentially being torn down and presumably relocated to the perimeter of the airport when it reaches the end of its useful life. This possibility is in the layout plan because the Aerodyne facility was built at a time when there was no perimeter fence around the airport, and visitors could freely drive up to the entrance of the building. When the city installed the perimeter fences after the 9-11 attack, the fencing spanned between buildings on the perimeter of the airport, but there was no easy way to allow visitors to drive up to the the (interior) Aerodyne building anymore. So Instead, visitors had to prearrange for an escort and/or visitor pass to get them through the perimeter gate. This has worked fine for 25 years, but if the building is ever torn down from obsolescence it should be relocated to the perimeter of the airport. That is why the Airport Layout Plan shows it being relocated.

A key assumption in the airport layout plan is that any building removed will be replaced one-for-one, to avoid displacing valuable long-term airport businesses while maintaining a diverse, thriving airport. The actions by the Airport Management contradict this assumption. Aerodyne should have been offered a new location, with a plan for a new building on the perimeter of the airport.

Key Assumption Seven says buildings will be replaced one-for-one; this has not been happening

WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE AIRPORT?

In recent years Renton’s Airport leadership has established a pattern of elbowing out small businesses for questionable or phoney reasons, including Rainier Flight Services, the Landing Gear Works, and now Aerodyne. Rainier Flight Services, a flight school, was told they were required to build a new building that they could not afford; this was contrary to their lease which said it was the tenant’s option to build a new building. The Landing Gear Works was misbilled by the City for a year, and then while making extra payments to reconcile the city’s error they were told they were also expected to pay for an expensive new roof on a building that the city would not give them a long-term lease on. These followed a controversial eviction of the Ellison Hangars in 2019, a business that furnished popular T-Hangars to local pilots; these hangars were demolished, and in seven years nothing has been rebuilt on the land.

All of these evicted tenants have requested alternative space on the airport, and none of them received it. The airport management accumulates fallow land and abandoned buildings, while pilots and aircraft businesses wait on a seven-year list to try to get diminishing tie-down, hangar and office spots at Renton Airport.

And airport users that have not been evicted have seen their rent rates increase as much as 74% in one year as the airport loses revenue from once-thriving businesses that have been kicked out.

Renton Airport Management will say they plan to eventually rebuild, perhaps sometime in the next ten years. But this delayed planning is not acceptable. It’s lazy and irresponsible management to neglect valuable city buildings, let them fall into abandonment, and then, years later, finally develop a plan to replace them. Especially when they are fully serviceable right now, as is. None of these buildings should have been emptied until there was a solid, executable plan to replace them.

When I was on Renton City Council we kept these airport buildings working for the community, and sought to maintain a thriving and diverse business base on the airport. And we would never have given the Public Works Director a pass for publishing a fake reason for evicting a tenant. The Renton Council is responsible for leasing city property. Today’s Renton Council should delve into the details of airport leasing, and correct the current trend at the airport that is imperiling Renton’s aviation future.