Jacksonville Airport Authority and Klem’s Aero Repair Reach New Lease After Dispute

After months of dispute, the Jacksonville Airport Authority approved a new lease allowing longtime operator Irv "Klem" Klemmensen of Klem’s Aero Repair to continue operating at Jacksonville Municipal Airport through Oct. 31, 2026. The move reverses an earlier board action that threatened to remove the business from a 15,000-square-foot maintenance hangar and raised immediate concerns about local general aviation capacity.

At a December 9 board meeting, the authority refused to extend Klemmensen’s month-to-month agreement and ordered him to vacate the 15,000-square-foot maintenance hangar by January 15, 2026; customers were told to remove aircraft and equipment before the new year. Airport officials framed the decision as driven by compliance issues and longstanding friction with the operator. Dan Beard, authority secretary and attorney, said, “the board has had issues with Irv for several years.”

The reversal and subsequent lease approval came after public outcry from pilots and mechanics who warned that losing Klem’s Aero Repair would deepen a shortage of maintenance services in Morgan County. John Oakes, an A&P who works alongside Klemmensen, said, “Aircraft mechanics for small planes are almost impossible to find,” and added, “If Klem leaves, that’s it for general aviation here. People will just sell their planes.” Local stakeholders also argued the maintenance operation helped generate airport traffic used in applications for state and federal grant funding.

Klem’s Aero Repair has been a long-standing presence at IJX, though accounts differ on exact tenure. Some records and reports describe the shop as a go-to for general aviation maintenance since 1982 and note Klemmensen has spent decades maintaining everything from small Cessnas to police aircraft. An archived community post identified Klemmensen as an 80-year-old disabled veteran who has serviced IJX planes since 1991, and other commentary characterized his work as spanning roughly 43 years. Those discrepancies in founding year and service length remain unresolved.

The immediate practical effect of the new lease is to keep maintenance capacity in place through at least Oct. 31, 2026, preserving service for locally based aircraft and visiting pilots who rely on IJX for repairs. What remains unclear are the specific terms of the lease - including whether it restores full rights to the 15,000-square-foot hangar, the rent and insurance obligations, and whether any prior vacate orders were formally rescinded.

The dispute highlights governance and transparency issues at Jacksonville Municipal Airport: board actions that swing from eviction orders to lease approvals can affect aircraft owners, flight training, and small-business livelihoods across Morgan County. Community members and airport tenants will be watching for published meeting minutes, the lease document, and any further board votes that clarify the authority’s long-term plan for general aviation services at IJX.