Control over Orange County’s gateway entrance for its rich and powerful visitors is up for grabs on Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors will select which companies will operate the private-plane terminals and hangars at John Wayne Airport that the average traveler never experiences.

The question of whether to pick new operators follows allegations in the past year from some airport tenants that the two longstanding contractors – Atlantic Aviation and Signature Flight Support – charged fuel prices above market rate for those without nationwide agreements. Those allegations caused at least one supervisor to accuse the operators of abusing a government-created monopoly at the nation’s 12th-busiest business-aviation airport.

“The monopoly we’ve created seems to have worked together to create some kind of price structure that wasn’t competitive and was a little bit punitive,” Supervisor Shawn Nelson said at a board meeting last month.

Representatives from Signature refuted that claim on Monday, saying at John Wayne it sold less than 5 percent of its fuel at the full advertised price, that almost all customers were sold fuel at lower prices and that it had not received any complaints from its customers about the cost of fuel. Atlantic did not return calls for comment.

However, both companies recently stated that they had altered their fuel-pricing structure to address board concerns.

Nelson said the issue of high fuel prices came to the board’s attention in late spring when airport tenants – which range from flight schools, to charter aircraft, to hangar renters – “all started to mutiny, because they were upset because their customers were upset.”

Data presented to supervisors showed that the Atlantic and Signature almost always priced their fuel at John Wayne Airport within pennies of each other over a six-year period. That fuel, the data showed, was often $1.50-per-gallon more than at Long Beach Airport, where Signature also operates.

In late July, the board told representatives from the two airport operators it was concerned about fuel pricing and expressed that the county might seek alternative contractors for John Wayne.

Around that time, Atlantic’s per-gallon fuel cost dropped by $2.04 – a 31 percent decrease and seemingly its lowest price in the previous five years, according to Flightaware.com, which tracks information about airports, including the price of fuel. Three months later, after the county had issued a “request for qualifications” to determine whether it wanted new operators at the airport, Signature’s per-gallon fuel price dropped 97 cents per gallon, or 16 percent, around the time applications were due.

Nelson called the move “an admission” by the companies that their fuel prices were too high. He noted that the county collects fuel taxes on a per-gallon basis, making it in the public interest that operators sell more. And he said he worried that the operators’ business interests were at odds with the county’s aim of maximizing airport tax revenue and ensuring wealthy, potential job creators have a good experience during their visits.

“My problem is that we have plenty of people who might only come to Orange County once or twice, and they don’t feel very welcome,” Nelson said.

But at the December meeting, Atlantic CEO Louis Pepper addressed the board, telling supervisors the company realized it previously had a convoluted pricing structure and subsequently calculated its fuel price based on regional averages. Signature’s Western Regional Vice President, Eric Hietala, said his company also had begun calculating its fuel price based on sales in the region.

“We listened when supervisors made their point and acted,” Pepper said. “We have absolutely zero complaints now except from anyone who might have an agenda.”

Representatives for Signature noted that higher fuel prices for infrequent customers merely reflected the high cost of overhead and were not designed to be punitive.

“The vast majority of Signature prices are based on each of its clients’ demands,” said Patrick Sniffen, Signature’s vice president of marketing.

County staff rated Atlantic and Signature by far the most qualified to continue overseeing John Wayne’s private-plane operations – a result that caused Supervisor Michelle Steel to allege the process was flawed or possibly even biased against local applicants. Supervisor Andrew Do called the results “suspicious” and was so unhappy with the information he was provided that he asked county lawyers if they could begin the process over again.

Regardless of who the board chooses, Supervisor Todd Spitzer said the county has been long overdue in raising airport rent and has left millions of dollars in potential revenue on the table. Atlantic’s and Signature’s leases expired in October 2014. And even though staff was directed in July 2015 to raise their rents collectively by $144,000 per month, that increase seemingly never happened.

The delay has cost the county as much as $3.9 million in lost revenue.

“Clearly the uncertainty has injured (the county) to the benefit of the incumbents,” Spitzer wrote in a text message.

Contact the writer: jgraham@scng.com or 714-796-7960