Pilots Drop Lawsuit Over 82% Hangar Rent Increase

A group of pilots at Colorado’s Centennial Airport has abandoned its lawsuit against Denver jetCenter following an unsuccessful challenge to an 82% hangar rent increase. The Centennial Airport Pilots Association withdrew the case after mediation failed to produce an agreement, according to AOPA. The FBO raised monthly T-hangar rents from $660 to $1,200 in April, adding $6,480 annually to each affected tenant’s rental costs.

Contract Dispute Ends

A lawsuit filed March 31 in Arapahoe County District Court alleged that the rate increase violated existing lease agreements. Association President Chris Stieber told AOPA, however, that the group could no longer afford to continue litigation, with expenses exceeding $60,000. Denver jetCenter maintained the $1,200 rate throughout mediation.

The case proceeded separately from an informal FAA Part 13 complaint alleging violations of federal airport grant assurances. The agency rejected that complaint in August and declined reconsideration on Oct. 7, saying it found insufficient evidence to establish a violation. Under the FAA’s complaint procedures, airport users can also pursue formal Part 16 proceedings, which have separate filing and evidentiary requirements.

Airport Pricing Questions Remain

FAA policy distinguishes between the costs of operating an airport and the amounts airport sponsors may charge aeronautical tenants. Under its February 2026 compliance manual, the agency says the obligation to maintain reasonable aeronautical charges takes precedence over an airport’s requirement to be financially self-sustaining.

“Accordingly, the FAA does not consider the self-sustaining requirement to require the sponsor to charge fair market value rates to aeronautical users,” the agency states in its February 2026 compliance manual.

The same guidance allows airport sponsors to charge hangar rents up to fair market value, which can exceed the direct cost of providing the facilities. However, those provisions address airport sponsors’ obligations and do not independently determine whether a private FBO’s rent increase complies with its individual tenant agreements.

Centennial Airport’s 2026 budget, prepared in December 2025, projected $779,908 in annual land rent from Denver jetCenter, unchanged from its 2025 estimate. The figures predate the hangar rent increase and cover the FBO’s broader leasehold. They do not establish the costs or profitability of the affected T-hangars.

Stieber said more than one-third of the company’s 45 T-hangars have been vacated since the increase.