AvEx to submit plan to catch up on back rent

Aviation Exteriors has 10 days to submit a plan to the Iberia Parish Airport Authority that would commit them to paying back some $200,000 to $500,000 in rent.

The airport commission approved a motion Wednesday requiring AvEx turn in a one-year plan that would pay back the more than $550,000 it says the company owes. The charges include more than four months of missed payments and late fees. Avex pays $61,000 a month for three hangars at the airport.

"We've already got a plan for the monthly payments," AvEx president Paul Lubomirski said.

The company made a partial payment at the end of May. It made another full payment at the end of June. Lubomirski said he will pay the full amount this month, but a week earlier in the month than in June. The payment schedule will work its way back to normal in a few months. Payment is required at the beginning of each month.

Lubomirski added the airport authority is not factoring in some $200,000 in money it owes AvEx for improvements it made to a hangar.

The authority considered a motion in May to terminate AvEx's lease at the airport and give the facility to California-based company Leading Edge Aviation. Commissioners voted to let AvEx stay, although legally they could have evicted the company. The board said it would give AvEx a chance to pay its rent, but did not set up a written agreement as to when or how it would receive them.

Airport commission chairman Fred Wesley said they will now have a written plan for AvEx to follow.

"We mainly didn't have anything in writing in the past," Wesley said. "They're going to tell us how they're going to pay us back what they owe."

Wesley said a special meeting may be conducted to review and make recommendations about the plan.

Lubomirski said the company, which paints passenger jets and other planes for many major airlines, hit hard times after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the subsequent lagging economy.

The company has just signed a contract with American Eagle and the work is reaching levels not seen since 2000, he said.

"We're looking forward to it evening out and business getting back to normal," Lubomirski said.