Southland Field Airport committee finds allegations unfounded

Published 9:02 am Wednesday, October 23, 2024

A Southland Field Airport Board committee of three investigated Wayne S. Thompson’s complaint against Airport Manager Tim LeFleur. Findings were reported in a special meeting Monday.

No action will be taken, according to a statement read by Ted Thompson, one of the committee members. It was recommended the board continue to review policies to ensure compliance of federal and state law.

“I just want to make sure I understand the position of the Investigative Committee is that Mr. LeFleur has done everything to the approval of the Board, and his decision to designate Chad Tremie flight school as the sole flight school allowed operator at Southland,” Thompson said.

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Thompson claimed 16 allegations, including awarding Chad Tremie an exclusive right and creating a flight training monopoly.

“Let me put it this way,” said Mike Granger, who was on the committee. “We don’t have a flight school out here. We have multiple flight instructors that provide flight instruction in our airport.”

Thompson is one of them, according to a report read by the Board’s CPA Darla Perry. She said in the last five months, out of 3054 operations, 674 were Thompson’s. The number was higher than any other pilot’s or plane landing at Southland Field.

Upon Thonpson’s insistence that LeFleur told him that he couldn’t operate a flight school at the airport, Dalton Landford, who was on the committee, said, “We are going to let anybody come into this airport and teach flying lessons, and that includes Rock Solid Aviation.”