Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming has the unfortunate distinction of being the only large public-use airport located in a national park and operating under a special-use permit from the National Park Service. While pilots landing at the busy airport might wonder why the crowded ramp can’t be expanded into nearby open land, doing so is impossible, according to Jackson Hole Aviation president and CEO Jeffrey Brown. “There isn’t any more ramp space,” he said, “and we’re not going to get any more.” The airport is within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park, and those wide-open spaces adjacent to the airport are simply not available for development.
Brown is celebrating the 25th year of his ownership of Jackson Hole Aviation; he purchased 75 percent of the company in 1983 after becoming familiar with Jackson Hole Airport when he sold a Citation I to two buyers who owned a house nearby. Needing a pilot, the owners hired Brown, and he ended up flying frequent trips between Burbank, Calif., and Jackson Hole. “You get to know everybody,” Brown said, and one day a lineman mentioned that the FBO was for sale, so Brown and the lineman’s father went in 75/25 on the deal and bought the FBO.
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