Everts takes over for Ravn at Palmer Airport

PALMER — The Warren “Bud” Woods Palmer Municipal Airport will have a new tenant shortly as Everts Air Cargo takes over the space on lease lot three, block two at the Palmer Airport for Ravn Air, who filed bankruptcy on April 5.

At the Tuesday meeting of the Palmer City Council, Action Memorandum 20-061 passed with the consent agenda accepting a $90,000 settlement.

“Everts is going to be assuming the lease through the bankruptcy court. They have essentially bought all the assets on that property and they are covering up to $90,000 in our costs,” said Palmer City Manager John Moosey. “We came to a reasonable solution. I’m happy with the solution.”

Ravn had serviced approximately 20 aircraft from their two buildings at the Palmer Airport. Nearly 80 employees worked maintaining mostly Cessna 207 caravans that flew for Ravn, many of which have been purchased by Everts. Currently, a skeleton crew of Ravn employees are maintaining the facility to FAA flight readiness standards before Everts personnel take over the space. Palmer Airport Superintendent Frank Kelly said that he is hopeful Everts can provide somewhere close to the 80 jobs that Ravn provided out of their hangar.

“I’m hopeful that whatever Everts makes of it will provide a decent amount of good paying aeronautical jobs,” said Kelly.

The $90,000 settlement paid by Everts through the bankruptcy filings of Ravn is mostly for fees to transfer the lease, Moosey said, but the total agreed settlement proceeds total $137,515.61. The Ravn space at the Palmer Airport was valued at $925,000.

“We are going to miss Ravn. They were a great operation and a good tenant for the city of Palmer,” said Moosey. “They provided numerous jobs and we’re in a wait and see mode to see what happens there next but there’s a reason they bought the asset, because they want to use the facility and we’re looking forward to working with the next chapter.”