Follow-up inspections revealed mold, asbestos in the original flooring, water intrusion and a kitchen floor with compromised concrete supported by deteriorated rebar. County officials said those issues must be fully remediated before customers can return to the longtime restaurant.<\/p>\n
Repairs, which could take two years, are expected to include removing damaged materials and rebuilding portions of the foundation where the supporting steel has deteriorated.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_sacramento_bee_mcclatchy_114\/5683719cddadd6d09de854f0a63b2e59.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
The terminal and offices of Sacramento Executive Airport on the 6100 block of Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento on Nov. 30, 2023. Aviator\u2019s Restaurant, located in the terminal, could close for about two years after structural damage was found underneath earlier in 2026 the eatery and throughout the terminal, according to the county.<\/p>\n
In a separate statement on Facebook,<\/a> Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy said that following the initial findings, a two-month engineering study found weakened rebar throughout the more than 75-year-old<\/a> terminal building and tower.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, by the time we find funding and complete the project, we likely are looking at two years,\u201d said Kennedy, whose district includes the airport at 6151 Freeport Blvd.<\/p>\n Kennedy later clarified over email with The Sacramento Bee that has heard \u201ccontradictory information\u201d about where inspectors suspect or have located damage. He said plans to meet with staff to get the latest information, possibly after Tuesday\u2019s Board of Supervisors meeting.<\/p>\n When asked if there were structural issues found throughout the airport complex, Johnston said the structural engineer and contractor limited their investigation to Aviator\u2019s Restaurant\u2019s kitchen because the two \u201cboth felt there was no reason to expand.\u201d<\/p>\n Aviator\u2019s Restaurant is a longtime local favorite known for its diner-style menu, including eggs and French toast for breakfast and burgers, pasta and patty melts for lunch. Customers dine beneath hanging model airplanes and can watch planes take off and land through floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the airport tarmac.<\/p>\n In its statement, the county said it is working with restaurant owner Cheung-Sang Chik to reach a \u201cmutually beneficial decision\u201d about the damage and the restaurant\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all want the same thing \u2014 to have a restaurant that is safe and healthy for Chik, his staff, and his loyal and dedicated customers,\u201d a portion of the statement reads. \u201cContrary to recent posts on NextDoor and other social media sites, Airports and Chik are working closely together to develop a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n The county said it will update the public once a decision is reached.<\/p>\n The latest setback comes about two and a half years after the restaurant appeared at risk of losing its lease. At the end of 2023, Sacramento County declined to renew Aviator\u2019s lease after 24 years<\/a>, instead offering a month-to-month agreement while accepting bids for the space. County officials described the move as a routine administrative procedure.<\/p>\n The lease was renewed<\/a> after an outpouring of community support, including a Change.org petition<\/a> that drew more than 4,300 signatures.<\/p>\n Kennedy said that once the engineering report is complete, he plans to hold a community meeting to discuss the damage, the future of Aviator\u2019s Restaurant and Sacramento Executive Airport.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish I had better news,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A popular restaurant at Sacramento Executive Airport could remain closed for about two years after construction uncovered extensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[4353,29174,130451,9309,1457,121,2006,357,33909,123,122,40593,105094],"class_list":["post-311170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-aviator","tag-county-officials","tag-kitchen-flooring","tag-patrick-kennedy","tag-restaurant","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-bee","tag-sacramento-county","tag-sacramento-executive-airport","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-scott-johnston","tag-structural-damage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}