Author Topic: 1,000 registered aircraft, no airport: The strange case of Onalaska, Texas (Read 430 times)

rangerrebew · « **on:** February 26, 2019, 03:29:08 pm »

1,000 registered aircraft, no airport: The strange case of Onalaska, Texas

By Tanya Eiserer, Mark Smith â€“ WFAA
2 hours ago

ONALASKA, Texas â€” Onalaska, Texas, has a secret.

Nestled along the piney shores of an East Texas lake, Onalaska lacks an airport.

A WFAA review, however, has found more than 1,000 registered aircraft claiming an Onalaska address. Thatâ€™s equivalent to one plane for every three Onalaska residents, which is more per capita than anywhere else in the country.

In fact, more planes are registered to Onalaska than the number of registered planes in entire cities such as Seattle, San Antonio, San Diego, or even New York.

Just as surprising, the aircraft are registered to only two Onalaska P.O. boxes. Thatâ€™s because the aircraft owners do not live there â€” not even close.

https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/n...-aircraft.html

ABX · « **Reply #1 on:** February 26, 2019, 03:33:53 pm »

This isn't strange at all, nor is it nefarious. Onalaska has offered a sales tax break for aircraft owners to register there. One of the largest trusts in the US, Aircraft Guaranty Corporation registers aircraft there for tax purposes and registers with the FAA in Oklahoma City. I have several friends who have their planes registered there and have brought up the piss poor research on local stories about this. Registering there saves them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This is really no different than how many exotic car owners in the US, register their cars in a couple of cities in Montana or almost all 18 wheelers are registered out of Edmond Oklahoma. It is all about saving taxes, which can be significant for purchases like this.