John Allard, who runs Allard Double Glazing in Crowborough, said: "Paul normally comes in around 7.45am and I remember on those days he then worked late on site on a fitting job. I don't think it can be him. He was busy on site working when it was happening."
The double glazing boss, who has run the firm for nearly 40 years, confirmed Gait had previously flown drones, but said he did not believe he had ever run into problems with the law over his hobby.
"He is a reliable family man who has been with me for 17 years and has never given me any problems at all," he said.
"He may have picked up the interest in model flying from me because I've been doing it for 40 years."
Mr Allard added: "I also know Paul's wife Elaine and as far as I know she has no interest at all in drones or model flying."
Neighbours also described him as a hard working family man and expressed surprise that he could have been linked with the disruption at Gatwick.
One of his neighbours, who asked not to be named said: "Paul is very hard working. He works for a window fitting company and usually leaves home around 7am every day and does not get back home until 6pm.
"He used to race remote control cars up and down the road and then got into drones but I have not seen him flying one for more than a year.
"I noticed some activity outside his house on Friday night and saw him moving his car. I was surprised to see it was still there when I got up this morning because he usually works on Saturdays.
"I would be really surprised if he had anything to do with what has been going on because he seems like such a nice normal bloke."
Kirk-Gait's sister Karen refused to comment on her arrest when contacted by The Telegraph.
It has not been explained how domestic drone users could have the capability to allegedly cause disruption on this scale and police inquiries are continuing.
Superintendent James Collis said "As part of our ongoing investigations into the criminal use of drones which has severely disrupted flights in and out of Gatwick Airport, Sussex Police made two arrests just after 10pm on Friday December 21.
"A 47-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman, both from Crawley, were arrested in the town on suspicion of disrupting services of civil aviation aerodrome to endanger or likely to endanger safety of operations or persons. They remained in custody at 11am on Saturday.
"Our investigations are still on-going, and our activities at the airport continue to build resilience to detect and mitigate further incursions from drones, by deploying a range of tactics.
"We continue to urge the public, passengers and the wider community around Gatwick to be vigilant and support us by contacting us immediately if they believe they have any information that can help us in bringing those responsible to justice.
"The arrests we have made are a result of our determination to keep the public safe from harm, every line of enquiry will remain open to us until we are confident that we have mitigated further threats to the safety of passengers.
"Anyone with information about the incident or who may have suspicions about the drone operators is asked to report online or call 101 quoting Operation Trebor. If you see anyone acting suspiciously in the area of the airport, please dial 999 immediately."
