- April 26, 2024
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Despite pleas from city and county officials and an effort from U.S. Rep. John Mica, the Federal Aviation Administration’s training operations will be relocated from Palm Coast to Oklahoma City at least on an interim basis, taking about 100 jobs with it. But, according to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which owns the building near Linear Park on Palm Coast Parkway, it “will not go unused.”
“We have no plans to sell the facility,” said Bob Ross, assistant director for media relations at Embry-Riddle. “There are some things in the works that are educational in nature.”
The facility, called the Center for Management and Executive Leadership, trains as many as 110 people at a time in multimedia classrooms, with 200 residential guest rooms. Its website also boasts of its serene location: “Situated along the city of Palm Coast’s Linear Park, the facility also provides access to miles of walking, jogging and biking trails.”
Palm Coast Senior Economic Planner Beau Falgout was the city’s contact person with the FAA and Embry-Riddle.
“We worked really hard ... to keep it open as long as possible,” Falgout said, “but, it seems that the FAA was intent on moving the facility.”
Training in Palm Coast will conclude Dec. 21, according to a statement from the FAA. The statement also included this sentence but did not elaborate on the fate of the 100 jobs in Palm Coast: “The current employees based at CMEL will continue to play key roles in the agency’s training program.”
Mica, who is the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, stood up for the Palm Coast facility earlier this year. The FAA originally announced it would award a new contract for the training program only to a facility that was within 25 miles of a major airport, which disqualified Palm Coast or Embry-Riddle from even making a proposal to retain the contract. Mica was not satisfied, so he wrote a provision into the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to ensure that cost-effectiveness of the location would be the determining factor, not just proximity to an airport.
However, there are two contracts involved: one for the lease on the building, the other for the training program. The FAA stated that because the lease for the building was up in Palm Coast, it had to move its training program to the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City on an interim basis.
The FAA will now conduct a market survey to help “identify potential companies that can provide long-term management and leadership training.” It indicated it will consider small businesses, including businesses owned by service-disabled U.S. military veterans “interested in and capable of performing this work.”
Whatever happens with the FAA contract, however, Embry-Riddle said there are options.
Ross couldn’t elaborate on a schedule for any big changes, but reiterated: “It will have new, productive uses.”
