Carver takes helm of Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport

Sam Carver has spent his career in aviation and is bringing his expertise to the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport, hoping to build on the success he has had in Mississippi and Florida.

Carver graduated from Delta State University in Mississippi (home of the Fighting Okra) with a degree in airport management.

“I thought I wanted to be a pilot, but I kept getting lost,” he said with a laugh, explaining that was before GPS. He worked at the Biloxi Regional Airport, Fort Lauderdale International, Tallahassee, Jackson, Mississippi, then Stuart, where he was the manager of the county-owned Martin County Airport. Then, Fernandina Beach, which he calls “a really good fit.”

“I have worked at a lot of really great airports and moved around quite a bit, which is very beneficial in this business,” Carver said. “Every airport does something better than another. I bring a lot of best practices from the airports I’ve worked at.”

Carver explained that the Fernandina Beach airport is a general aviation airport, like most of the airports in the country.

“We do everything except scheduled commercial flights. We do private pilot business, military, agriculture, charters, flight training — any type of flight operations except commercial air service,” he said. “There are 5,000 airports in the country, and 3,500 of those are general aviation airports, so it plays a much bigger part in the whole aviation system than most people realize.”

In addition to its general aviation designation, Carver said the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport has another advantage — room to grow.

“The previous airport manager, Nate Coyle, and Operations Manager Bobby Kozakoff did a great job,” he said. “They have done an outstanding job setting this airport up for success. I think what I see there is room for some smart development in the future, putting the interest of the community in mind, making sure this is a valuable asset for everyone in the city, all the stakeholders.”

There is a waiting list of 85 people who want hangars at the airport, and Carver says that is “an immediate goal.” The need for hangars has been part of an issue at the airport. The Ybor Alvarez Sports Complex is on property owned by the airport and is "airport dedicated property." Some parties have come forward expressing an interest in building hangars on the site. The airport is heavily funded by grants from the Federal Aviation Administration, which requires aeronautical use of the property be given priority over non-aeronautical use, and so the concern is that the FAA would remove the fields in order to allow hangars to be built. One solution being explored by the city commission is to move the softball fields at Ybor Alvarez to another location and put the soccer fields, on which 700 youths play, on the current location of the softball fields.

Carver said he believes that solution will ultimately be approved by the FAA.

“After talking to them, I believe there is a path to make that happen,” he said. “When you’re dealing with the federal government, things move a little slower, but after meeting with them, I believe there is a path to getting that done. It’s going to take some work but there’s a way to do it.”

Carver has a good track record of working with government, both at the state and federal level.

“At my previous airport, we received 20 grants in five years,” he said. “So that is runway projects, safety projects, fence projects. First we try to get FAA grants but only a certain number are eligible for that, so then we look at FDOT aviation.”

He said the ratio of grant funding to the amount a local entity has to match is higher with FAA grants, so he typically tries to get federal grants. He attributes his success rate to “having good relationships and doing the right things.”

He said he hopes to bring a lot of safety projects to the airport.

“In my career, I’ve always put safety first,” Carver said. “That’s done a lot of different ways. There’s always maintenance and construction projects on runways, air fields, navigational aids. Every project we do relates to safety; one way or another it goes to making it a safer airport.”

Carver said he is enjoying Fernandina Beach, where he lives downtown with the dog his mother rescued and named Tickles. He spends time biking and playing pickleball, and he and Tickles enjoy walking through town. He has two daughters, both recent college graduates, who live in Maui and Dallas, but are planning a visit soon. While he no longer has a pilot’s license, Carver likes to travel. Argentina, Thailand, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Bahamas are some of the destinations he has visited.

He said friends and family are excited to have him in Fernandina Beach.

“I’m from Mississippi, and when I told people I was living in Stuart, Florida, they were like, ‘I haven’t heard of it,’” he said. “But when I tell people back home in Mississippi I’m living in Fernandina Beach, it really excites them.”

jroberts@fbnewsleader.com