The city of Charlotte has
taken a key step in resolving the dispute over ownership of Charlotte
Douglas International Airport. On Friday, City Attorney Robert Hagemann
sent a letter to the chief counsel of the Federal Aviation
Administration asking the agency to determine whether the Charlotte
Airport Commission, established by state legislation, meets federal
requirements to operate Charlotte Douglas.
That action follows
the Oct. 13 ruling by N.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin that only
the FAA can determine who operates the airport. Ervin's ruling left the
city in control of CLT.
No appeal of the ruling was filed by the deadline this week.
The
N.C. General Assembly in legislation in 2013 and 2014 created the
13-member commission in an effort to remove city government from direct
oversight of CLT. Ervin granted the city an injunction that kept CLT
under city control. Since then, the commission has been formed and has
held meetings without any authority.
"We have consistently stated
from the beginning of this conflict that the attempted transfer was
both unnecessary and poorly designed," Hagemann said in a statement.
"The governance and management structures established by the legislation
are confusing and internally inconsistent, and — in the opinion of our
outside counsel — unacceptable under FAA standards."
The city
provided the FAA with a written opinion from its outside counsel —
Cambridge, Mass.-based Anderson Kreiger — that concluded the legislation
does not satisfy necessary requirements.
"We hope that the FAA
will bring an end to this dispute so that we can continue to focus our
efforts on the operations and prosperity of the airport," Mayor Dan
Clodfelter said in a statement.
The 29-page opinion from Anderson Kreiger contends the city cannot legally transfer control of the airport to the commission.
"Because
we believe that the new governance structure for the Airport created by
the Amended Commission Act does not comply with applicable law, we have
grave concerns that any efforts by the City's representatives to secure
for the Commission (the) right to control the Airport and to obtain FAA
approval for the new governance structure would violate the City's own
obligations as the sponsor of the Airport," the letter states.
The
firm also stated that the structure for governance of the airport
created in the state legislation does not comply with federal law.
"We
believe that the Amended Commission Act establishes a governance
structure for the Airport that is internally inconsistent, leaves open
to question whether the Commission, the City, or both, are in control of
the Airport, and fails to comply with the foundational requirement that
there be no ambiguity regarding responsibility for compliance with
applicable federal obligations," the letter says.
CLT ranks among the nation's 10 busiest airports and is home to American Airlines' second-largest hub.
The FAA has not commented on the issue since Ervin's Oct. 13 ruling.
An
FAA spokesperson last month referred the Charlotte Business Journal to a
letter sent by the agency in September to U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger
(R-N.C.). In the letter, the FAA states it will not consider any aspect
of the Charlotte Douglas dispute until all lawsuits and court cases are
resolved. And, the letter adds, only the owner of the airport and the
holder of the current operating certificate — in this case, the city of
Charlotte — would be able to trigger an analysis of transferring the
operating certificate.
- Source: http://www.bizjournals.com
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