Landing fees, KMKE

GreatLakesFlying

GreatLakesFlying

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Leo
Next week I will be heading north from Chicago, and I am interested in landing at KMKE, then taxi-back and depart right away. I understand that the airport charges landing fees and I am happy to pay my fair share.

The question I have is: how do I pay? I will not be shutting down, parking, or stepping out of the airplane: just a f/s landing followed by immediate departure.

In the next couple of days, I will be calling the facility to ask if there is a time of the day they'd rather not be dealing with a VFR arrival, and I'll ask about landing fees as well. But in the meantime, I'd appreciate the collective wisdom from this forum.
 
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GreatLakesFlying said:
Next week I will be heading north from Chicago, and I am interested in landing at KMKE, then taxi-back and depart right away. I understand that the airport charges landing fees and I am happy to pay my fair share.

The question I have is: how do I pay? I will not be shutting down, parking, or stepping out of the airplane: just a f/s landing followed by immediate departure.

In the next couple of days, I will be calling the facility to ask if there is a day they'd rather not be dealing with a VFR arrival, and I'll ask about landing fees as well. But in the meantime, I'd appreciate the collective wisdom from this forum.
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To my knowledge it is only the FBO that charges fees. Also if you have the Wisconsin airport passport and are getting a stamp there, they waive all fees.
 
No landing fees when I was there 2 years ago. $40 fee at Signature though, waived if you bought 15 gallons of their $8.00+/gallon fuel :eek:
 
Landing and ramp fees are charged per visit not per minute. Call Avflight and Signature to determine what they are going to charge you to use their ramp.
 
Clip4 said:
Landing and ramp fees are charged per visit not per minute. Call Avflight and Signature to determine what they are going to charge you to use their ramp.
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Thanks, but I am not stopping. Just landing and taxing back for immediate departure. There will be no interaction with the FBOs; I'll even avoid looking at their direction.
 
GreatLakesFlying said:
Next week I will be heading north from Chicago, and I am interested in landing at KMKE, then taxi-back and depart right away. I understand that the airport charges landing fees and I am happy to pay my fair share.

The question I have is: how do I pay? I will not be shutting down, parking, or stepping out of the airplane: just a f/s landing followed by immediate departure.

In the next couple of days, I will be calling the facility to ask if there is a time of the day they'd rather not be dealing with a VFR arrival, and I'll ask about landing fees as well. But in the meantime, I'd appreciate the collective wisdom from this forum.
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Where do you find this information about landing fees? I looked at the AF/D, and also airnav, and I don't see any mention of landing fees. If its a public use airport with landing fees, should it not be loudly advertised, so some schmuck like me does not get caught off guard?
 
Best bet would be to call the FBO. In many larger airports, the landing fee is only due when you leave the movement area. Others are more aggresive. If you don't voluntarily pay at the FBO, you'll sometimes get a bill in the mail from the airport when someone reconciles the arrival with the FBO collections.
 
Don't know if they do this at KMKE but I've seen some FBO's take down the tail number and mail a bill to the registered owner of the plane.
 
Juliet Hotel said:
Don't know if they do this at KMKE but I've seen some FBO's take down the tail number and mail a bill to the registered owner of the plane.
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Boston, MA Port Authority towers record activity and does it this way.
 
Juliet Hotel said:
Don't know if they do this at KMKE but I've seen some FBO's take down the tail number and mail a bill to the registered owner of the plane.
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I know of NO FBO that does this. As pointed out sometimes the airport authority does it (Boston already mentioned but I believe TEB does this as well).
 
Juliet Hotel said:
Don't know if they do this at KMKE but I've seen some FBO's take down the tail number and mail a bill to the registered owner of the plane.
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When you get the bill in the mail, it’s typically from the tower recording/giving your tail number to the city vice the FBO.

SMO Tower, for example, gives the data to the city.

In NJ, same thing. I’ve stopped at a few NJ airports, even paid ramp fees to the FBO and then separately received the landing fee bill in the mail. That to me is just adding insult to injury.
 
GreatLakesFlying said:
Next week I will be heading north from Chicago, and I am interested in landing at KMKE, then taxi-back and depart right away. I understand that the airport charges landing fees and I am happy to pay my fair share.

The question I have is: how do I pay? I will not be shutting down, parking, or stepping out of the airplane: just a f/s landing followed by immediate departure.

In the next couple of days, I will be calling the facility to ask if there is a time of the day they'd rather not be dealing with a VFR arrival, and I'll ask about landing fees as well. But in the meantime, I'd appreciate the collective wisdom from this forum.
Click to expand...

I've done this a few times and there is never a bill in the mail. Only Signature has the ramp fees, and like someone else said, if you're there to collect the stamp, they'll waive the fee.

KMKE isn't KORD, and there is usually never a time they can't take a VFR arrival.
 
No landing fees are currently being charged at KMKE for singles (can't speak for any other types). There are ramp and facility fees charged by the FBO, though most/all of the expense can be waived with a minimum fuel purchase or the state passport thing.

Source: I regularly land there.
 
Beware runway/taxiway closures and potentially convoluted taxi instructions (due to the closures). Any reason to not just do a touch and go or stop and go there?
 
mjburian said:
Any reason to not just do a touch and go or stop and go there?
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I am taking a descendant of Billy Mitchell for a tour flight to the north, and I thought it would be more meaningful to stay on the ground at MKE for a few minutes longer than a touch/stop & go.
 
sarangan said:
You are right, but that is the only mention of landing fees I have seen anywhere for this airport. Nothing in the digital chart supplements, or any other FAA source. This seems very odd to me. A $10 landing fee isn't going to bother anyone, but what if it is $100, or even higher?
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And that's part of my concern. I am also curious because I rent, and I'd like to have my FBO know in advance that there may be a bill for that landing.

The good news is that per @mjburian, there are no fees for a small single engine. And when I called the tower on the phone earlier, I was told that there should be no fee if all I want to do is turn around and take-off again.

It would be nice though if there were some more clarity and transparency in airport fees, ramp charges, etc. I know that the opacity of FBO price lists has been a topic of frequent and ... spirited debate here, and I don't mean to open a new can-o-worms about airport fees.
 
GreatLakesFlying said:
I am taking a descendant of Billy Mitchell for a tour flight to the north, and I thought it would be more meaningful to stay on the ground at MKE for a few minutes longer than a touch/stop & go.
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Maybe all the more reason to stop. You could park and get a ride over to the terminal and take the through the Mitchell Gallery of Flight exhibit.

https://www.mitchellgallery.org/

I wonder if you name dropped at the FBO they’d waive the fee!
 
Amusingly, after I moved my plane out of the flying club at IAD to private operation there, I never paid a landing fee again. I assumed the FBO would bill me (along with my fuel). Apparently, the club voluntarily paid those fees. I found that if you don't walk up to the girl at the desk and say "I just landed" they don't know to charge you.
 
Yesterday I flew to KMKE from 06C. Beautiful weather all along, VRB05KT at most, cool air at 3000 AGL. Once again, Chicago Approach's traffic advisories were very helpful and handled my transitions through KPWK, KUGN, and KENW's Deltas.

North of Racine, I was handed off to KMKE approach and broke-off my shoreline flying to follow vectors to rwy 7L. The airport was using 7R for airline jets, and I had 7L to myself. I did not feel rushed or under pressure at any time.

On the way back I flew direct to 06C, again with Chicago Approach's useful traffic advisories. The frequency went quiet for about 11 miles, to the point where I thought there was something wrong with the radio. Anyway, as I was coming to 10 miles from Schaumburg, I advised Approach that I was ready to squawk VFR, and got the frequency change approved - so the radio was working!

KMKE is the third class-C I flew to and the first after I earned my PPL. As a student pilot, I did a night landing at KMDW with my CFI. My long solo cross-country was to KMSN.
 
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