Partly cloudy with late night showers or thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 63F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Partly cloudy with late night showers or thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 63F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Members of the Hastings City Council approved on Monday an airport services agreement with J&S Aviation Services for the purposes of providing aviation and avionic services at the Hastings airport. J&S Aviation Services will occupy Hangar No. 11.

Members of the Hastings City Council approved on Monday an airport services agreement with J&S Aviation Services for the purposes of providing aviation and avionic services at the Hastings airport. J&S Aviation Services will occupy Hangar No. 11.

The city of Hastings has entered into an airport services agreement for additional mechanic services at the Hastings Municipal Airport, and everyone involved is excited.

Members of the Hastings City Council voted 6-0 at their regular meeting Monday for an airport services agreement with J&S Aviation Services for the purposes of providing aviation and avionic services at the Hastings airport. Council members Chuck Rosenberg and Jeniffer Beahm were absent.

The agreement would begin Oct. 1 and would be in place for five years.

J&S will occupy Hangar No. 11.

“I think everybody’s excited,” airport manager Matt Kuhr said. “We’ve looked for another mechanic for a long time just to add to what we have here. This brings us a full shop in town, which a lot of airports are really trying to get. It gives us all facets of what we need to take care of aircraft now.”

J&S Aviation Services will collaborate with Hastings’ longtime airport mechanic Glen Bredthauer.

J&S will offer a full avionics shop, servicing dash and navigation systems.

“They are very well respected in the state,” Kuhr said. “They bring in aircraft from all over for maintenance or upgrading panels or different types of things. It brings a lot more to the airport. It won’t hurt Glen. They’re going to work together. That’s a good thing.”

J&S will supplement the work of fixed base operator Hastings Air, which provides fuel and hangar service.

“So it kind of gives us an airport that can do it all,” Kuhr said.

J&S is relocating to Hastings from McCook.

Jeff Williams, owner of J&S Aviation Services, said his employees are excited about the agreement, too.

“All my guys were very excited about the move when the city of Hastings and all the airport board, the mayor, city councilmen, everybody pushed so hard for us to come,” Williams said. “They liked that feeling of somebody wants us here and they’re willing to do whatever it takes. That really made it easier for my guys to make the decision, ‘Hey, let’s just pick up and move there as a group.’ That was a big selling point from the city themselves and all the people.”

Including Williams himself and his wife, who is the business bookkeeper, J&S has seven employees who will be relocating to Hastings.

The business had 10 employees before the pandemic started.

“We’re definitely hoping the move to Hastings will give us the opportunity to find more employees,” he said.

Williams said the Hastings Municipal Airport has a good reputation.

“I’ve heard nothing but good things over the last three, four years — all the improvements they’ve made,” he said. “They’re definitely going in the right direction with it. It’s really growing. That makes it exciting for us, too, to be part of the growth and the future with it.”

J&S originally was going to open a second location in Hastings while still maintaining a presence in McCook. The business already had a lot of customers in the Hastings area.

Then J&S lost its building lease after 20 years and started looking at other options.

“Obviously, Matt was the first person I called,” he said. “We started talking about it again.”

Williams had 18 offers from other cities and airports throughout Kansas and Nebraska to move the business.

“Hastings always stuck out at the top of the list,” he said. “They’ve done everything it took to get us there. We’re really looking forward to it.”

All of the airport hangars are now full of airplanes.

“Which is something that we’re proud of,” Kuhr said.

Hastings Municipal Airport also was able to keep charter service Air Exec.

Council members on July 11 unanimously approved as part of the consent agenda ratification of the June 29 termination letter sent by Kuhr to JB Air Exec LLC charter air service terminating the December 2021 lease between the city of Hastings and JB Air Exec, effective Sept. 30.

The city terminated the agreement to bring in J&S into the space occupied by Air Exec.

The city worked out an agreement with Air Exec to relocate within the airport grounds.

“It wasn’t that we were trying to move them out of town or boot them off the airport,” Kuhr said. “It was just to make things work to allow J&S to come here.”

In other business, the council:

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