Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyGLENDALE, AZ -- Almost all of the hangars and covered tie-downs owned by Valley Aviation Services at the Glendale Airport sit empty.
The company, which operates on land south of the airport tower leased from the City of Glendale, blames the city for it, and they're going to court.
"We filed the lawsuit after 17 years of putting up with this discriminatory unfair treatment," said owner George Van Houten.
The city's rules and regulations at the Glendale Airport are clear:
No storage of equipment not necessary for the maintenance/assembly of the hangared aircraft...No storage of construction equipment or materials...There must be room for the aircraft in the hangar at all times, even when the aircraft is temporarily not located in the hangar.
However, the lawsuit claims that at the north end of the airport, the city appears to be turning a blind eye to its own regulations.
"Everything from storage of personal property to buses and RVs," Van Houten said, "there are businesses operating up there where airplanes aren't even involved.
It didn't take the ABC15 Investigators long to find an open hangar that looks more like a workshop.
There's a work truck, forklift, metal shelving with lumber, an office complete with spiral staircase, and an RV.
On another visit, we saw another RV being backed into a different hangar.
"You know, it's more like a flea market at times I think than it could be compared to pure hangar storage," Van Houten said.
"Generally speaking, we want to see aircraft hangars used for aircraft storage and maintenance," said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor.
Gregor said the Glendale Airport has received nearly $20 million in federal airport improvement funds over the last 25 years, and that means they have to follow federal regulations.
"Airports that accept federal grants cannot discriminate economically against any tenant," Gregor said. "They are required to treat tenants equally."
The City of Glendale refused to talk on camera about the lawsuit or what we saw on the days we were there.
The city issued this statement:
"In 1999, Valley Aviation made the same allegations to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA found that Glendale's leasing standards were reasonable, that there were no regulatory infractions and that there was no unjust discrimination. The FAA took no punitive action and marked the matter closed. We'll defend this action in court as we did before the FAA."
Valley Aviation Services said these aren't the same issues, and the company is suing the City of Glendale for $16 million.
Van Houten also plans to file a new claim with the FAA.
