Fifteen years of talk and promises, and no cargo airport to show for it.
That's the reality in Hendry County, where people have heard great expectations for Airglades airfield, a few miles west of Clewiston.
An investment group sees a place with lots of jobs, flying in produce and flowers from Central and South America.
But where do the high-flying dreams stand? Right now Airglades is a quiet airfield with some sky-diving and pilot training flights.
But a company called Florida Cargo Fresh envisions much more. It has partnered with Hilliard Brothers agriculture, headquartered near the airport, and US Sugar, based in Clewiston. The parent company is "Airglades, the Future of Logistics.'" It foresees a 10,000-foot runway - double the current length - plus refrigerated warehouses, trucks to distribute the produce and maybe 1,000 good-paying jobs.
"There is more than enough unemployment here, so that'd be a positive," Ruth Nall, a longtime Clewiston resident said. We asked whether she believed it would ever happen.
"It's been so long that they've been discussing it, so maybe not," Nall replied.
Investors have been dealing with the Federal Aviation Administration, which has officially labeled the place: Airglades International Airport: AIA.
"It will be an international footprint with goods coming from abroad," Benny Benitez said. He's spent his adult life working for the airlines and the FAA. And he's operated an aviation consulting firm called 94th Aeroclaims Group for the past 22 years. Benitez and his firm are based in Miami.
"I think the financial benefits to Hendry County would be exceptional," he said.
WGCU News contacted Airglades and received a statement saying there is no substantive update. The email did say that Airglades is talking with the FAA about the agency's money requirement: that the investment group must have at least $97.5 million available to start building and operating a cargo hub, before it could be approved. The FAA also wants to see agreements between the company and Hendry County about use of the airport.
Currently the Airglades investment company has about five months — until the end of November — to show the FAA the money and agreements. The company does have the right to ask the FAA for more time to pull together the money and necessary requirements.
The money and bureaucracy make for doubters.
"I mean I haven't seen any progress toward it," Mark King of Clewiston said. "I don't think we need it. I moved here for the small-town feeling. I don't want to see more people move here and everything."
A big obstacle is that Miami International, MIA by airport code, is the king of cargo in the southeast U.S. And it has no desire to give up its crown.
It's a huge money-maker and jobs generator for Miami-Dade County. It charges a fee for every plane that lands, based on weight. An average-sized cargo jet pays about 400 dollars every time it touches down.
Miami-Dade County has earmarked $400 million to build a bigger cargo facility at MIA. That means the aviation industry around the airport also likely will expand.
Hendry county government officials refused WGCU requests for an interview about Airglades. However in a statement to WGCU, county management notes that the investors could invest in the local economy right now, while continuing to deal with the FAA. They could build and lease hangars at Airglades, the county said. Or they could build maintenance and repair shops. As far as anyone knows, neither is happening.
Still the cargo hub idea is tantalizing. Trucks lose a lot of time in Miami's heavy traffic. A cargo operation in Hendry would put trucks closer to big cities to the north.
"Cargo is a pinnacle in our economy locally and globally," consultant Benitez said. "And it would help Hendry transition to something more sustainable."
Airglades has a notable history. It used to be called Riddle Field. At the start of World War II it served as a training base for British pilots. About 1,300 of them learned how to fly war planes at Riddle.
Now Airglades field shimmers in the heat, with a few take-offs and landings a day. Nobody knows whether it will become the engine for economic revival in Hendry County. Or remain just a quiet airfield out in the country.
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