A committee charged with finding a management firm to take over operations at Lehigh Valley International Airport has hammered out details of a contract with the firm and is recommending the airport's governing body approve the contract.
LVIA along with Queen City Airport in Allentown and Braden Airpark in Forks Township is governed by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, which for months has been debating the hiring of such a firm to manage the airports' day-to-day operations.
On Friday, the committee, comprised of several members of the authority's board of governors, met behind closed doors to negotiate with AFCO AvPORTS Management of Dulles, Va.
Authority board Chairman David Haines said following the meeting that the committee voted unanimously to recommend a contract with AvPorts.
"After the negotiating session, we came to a meeting of minds," he said, adding that the contract will go before the full board of governors for a vote next Tuesday.
If approved, AvPorts would begin transitioning into its new role on Sept. 9, with expectations that the firm would take over operations by Jan. 1, 2012, Haines said.
The contract would run for two years with the option of a one-year extension, he said.
Haines declined to release specifics because language in the contract is still being finalized by attorneys.
AvPorts' initial offer was for two years at a cost of $325,000 per year.
The contract's implications on administrative jobs with the authority remains to be seen, Haines said.
"They are going to come in and look at the whole operation from top to bottom," he said.
The authority has been operating without a permanent executive director since acting director Larry Krauter left in March to run Spokane International Airport in Washington state. His departure occurred six months after previous director George Doughty resigned. Skip Fairchild, the authority's director of public safety, is now acting executive director.
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