While Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue proclaims the need an airport in every community, RDU director John Brantley has shown the way on incentives.
Piedmont Triad International Airport, Guilford County, and the state
have agreed to put up 67% of the $4.7million cost ($3million from the
airport) to build a new maintenance hangar that will then go rent-free
for the first two years. The hangar is for Delta subsidiary Comair.
Without incentives, Comair “will add a dozen mechanics at RDU this
spring and rent 1,500 more square feet of space.” The Piedmont airport
hangar will employ 53 mechanics in 32,000 square feet.

I’m not
sure about the rent for a square foot of hangar, but receiving even
$15,000 a year for otherwise unused space instead of spending $3
million with no return for at least two years makes me think
governments in the Triangle will agree with Brantley’s assessment: “We
did OK.”