The A. J. Eisenberg airport in Oak Harbor currently offers charter flights, fuel sales, flight instruction and private sightseeing. (Karina Andrew / Whidbey News-Times)

The A. J. Eisenberg airport in Oak Harbor currently offers charter flights, fuel sales, flight instruction and private sightseeing. (Karina Andrew / Whidbey News-Times)

Port of Coupeville eyes Oak Harbor’s A.J. Eisenberg Airport

Local pilots are hoping the port can revitalize the airport and restore some of its old services.

OAK HARBOR — The A.J. Eisenberg Airport went up for sale in August, and the Port of Coupeville has its eye on the property.

Though a decision about a purchase is still a long way off, locals affiliated with the airport are hopeful the port can revitalize the airport and restore some of its former services.

“Back in the day, the airport was much more useful to the community than it is now, and it speaks to what it could be,” said local pilot Mark Varljen. “This ownership transition is an opportunity to get it into a better place.”

The airport has seen a steady decline over the past two decades. Harbor Air, the airline that once owned the airport, bit the dust in 2001 after 30 years of service when it ran into financial trouble. A Whidbey News-Times article from the time reported that the company had more than $1 million in debts.

When Harbor Air abruptly ceased operations, a plethora of lien holders stepped forward to claim ownership of the airport, until Air International, a limited liability corporation owned in part by Joel Eisenberg, swooped in to purchase the airport’s debts. Eisenberg then embarked on a nearly decade-long legal battle for ownership of the airport.

While Eisenberg and others waded through the swamps of litigation, Kenmore Air began service to Whidbey Island, but Oak Harbor turned out to be an unprofitable stop for the airline, and it pulled the plug on its Whidbey operations late in 2008, just months before Eisenberg finally achieved legal ownership of the airport in the summer of 2009.

Since then, no airline has offered regularly scheduled flights from the airport.

That isn’t to say the local airport has been sitting empty all these years. The Eisenberg provides a number of other services, such as charter flights for passengers, affordable fuel sales to other nearby small airports, flight instruction, private sightseeing and plane and hangar rentals.

Bringing back commercial service, however, would be a real asset for the community, according to Varljen. In an Aug. 11 presentation to the Port of Coupeville board of commissioners, he outlined the economic benefits a revitalized Oak Harbor airport could bring to the island, including enhancement of the transportation network and the jobs a full-time commercial operation would engender.

Don Meehan, a pilot who has been with the airport for more than 25 years, said the airport is well positioned for commercial flights. Surrounded by sprawling farmland rather than tightly packed residential communities, the airport doesn’t have many neighbors to be bothered by its noise.

The Port of Coupeville is uniquely positioned to revive the airport, Varljen said. As a government entity, the port has potential access to grants and other funding sources private individuals or institutions don’t have.

The port also has the express purpose of promoting economic development, and Varljen said he thinks the port would be more inclined to make decisions with the community in mind than a profit-driven private company.

This isn’t the first time in recent memory that the Port of Coupeville has eyed the airport. Shortly after becoming the legal owner of the airport in 2009 — and subsequently naming the airport after himself — Eisenberg approached the port about purchasing the airport. Eisenberg’s own lofty development dreams, including the construction of new hangars, weren’t coming to fruition as he had imagined.

“Basically I never intended on owning an airport and I don’t know much about it,” he told port commissioners during a meeting late in 2009.

Despite support from local pilots at the time, port commissioners ultimately decided against the acquisition.

“The port was the actual best customer for taking this thing on because ports are about economic development,” Meehan said. “But our port was busy with the Greenbank Farm and had a huge financial liability with Greenbank Farm, so they didn’t have a bunch of money to be tossing around to buy airports.”

Now, the timing might be right, but port Executive Director Chris Michalopoulos said the airport is still on the back burner as the port keeps its focus on the pending industrial development district it has been working to implement for the past several months.

The airport consists of five buildings, a parking lot, one runway and a sizable empty field. It sits on 51.98 acres of land and is on the market for $2.1 million.

This story originally appeared in the Whidbey News-Times, a sister publication to The Herald.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Olivia Vanni / The Herald 
The Mukilteo Lighthouse. Built in 1906, it’s one of the most iconic landmarks in Snohomish County.
The Mukilteo Lighthouse. Built in 1906, it’s one of the most iconic landmarks in Snohomish County. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mukilteo mayor vetoes council-approved sales tax

The tax would have helped pay for transportation infrastructure, but was also set to give Mukilteo the highest sales tax rate in the state.

South County Fire plans push-in ceremony for newest fire engine

Anybody who attends will have the opportunity to help push the engine into the station.

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring gives the state of the city address at the Marysville Civic Center on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Marysville council approves interim middle housing law

The council passed the regulations to prevent a state model code from taking effect by default. It expects to approve final rules by October.

x
State audit takes issue with Edmonds COVID grant monitoring

The audit report covered 2023 and is the third since 2020 that found similar issues with COVID-19 recovery grant documentation.

Bothell
Bothell man pleads guilty to sexual abuse of Marysville middle schoolers

The man allegedly sexually assaulted three students in exchange for vapes and edibles in 2022. His sentencing is set for Aug. 29.

Larsen talks proposed Medicaid cuts during Compass Health stop in Everett

Compass Health plans to open its new behavioral health center in August. Nearly all of the nonprofit’s patients rely on Medicaid.

‘Voter friendly’ election ballots set to go out for Snohomish County voters

Materials will include some changes to make the process easier to vote in Aug. 5 primary.

Community members gather for the dedication of the Oso Landslide Memorial following the ten-year remembrance of the slide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
The Daily Herald garners 6 awards from regional journalism competition

The awards recognize the best in journalism from media outlets across Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Kathy Johnson walks over a tree that has been unsuccessfully chainsawed along a CERCLA road n the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest on Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Granite Falls, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
How Roadless Rule repeal could affect forests like Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie

The Trump administration plans to roll back a 2001 rule protecting over 58 million acres of national forest, including areas in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie area.

Edmonds police officers investigate a shooting that occurred at 236/Edmonds Way Thursday in Edmonds, Washington. (Edmonds Police Department).
Jury convicts Edmonds man in fatal shooting of rideshare driver

After three hours, a 12-person jury convicted Alex Waggoner, 22, of second-degree murder for shooting Abdulkadir Shariif, 31, in January 2024.

Jake Goldstein-Street / Washington State Standard
Angelina Godoy, director of the University of Washington Center for Human Rights, speaks to reporters alongside advocates outside Boeing Field in Seattle on Tuesday.
Deportation flights at WA airport up dramatically this year, advocates say

Activists also say King County officials aren’t being transparent enough about the flights in and out of Boeing Field.

Smoke shrouds the hilltops as the Bolt Creek Fire burns through thick forest in 2022 on U.S. Highway 2 near Index. Members of the public can now view video feeds from artificial-intelligence-assisted cameras placed in 21 high-risk wildfire locations around Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Online feeds from WA’s wildfire detection cameras are now available

Members of the public can now view video feeds from artificial-intelligence-assisted cameras… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.