Airports hire new parking manager

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Monday unanimously awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to manage parking at Los Angeles International and Van Nuys airports, rejecting strenuous objections from competing bidders.

The board, which also oversees LA/Ontario International and LA/Palmdale Regional airports, considered the contract in closed session because of concern about a possible lawsuit.

Afterward, the board voted to give a three-year contract to New South Parking, with the option to renew the agreement for two more years. The contract will cost the airports agency $122 million over five years.

Staff reports recommended New South Parking because its projected costs over three and five years were the lowest. Five Star Parking, which currently manages parking at LAX and Van Nuys airports, submitted the next-lowest bid.

The contract at LAX, which is to expire at the end of May, is highly coveted, reflecting about 7 million parking transactions annually. Some lobbyists at Monday’s meeting called the LAX contract one of the largest in the country.

Last year, Five Star Parking collected more than $75 million for the airports.

Steve McCormick, New South Parking’s vice president, said his company has a track record of managing airport parking lots. He said it has increased revenues at some of the lots it oversees, including George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

Several lawyers and representatives of the four competing bidders questioned whether the award of the contract followed procedures set by the state.

Five Star Parking lawyer Louis “Skip” Miller, citing language in staff reports, said the board should give greater emphasis to a bidder’s proposed operating costs per hour than to the bidder’s overall operating costs.

Five Star Parking submitted a lower hourly bid than New South Parking, even though its overall bid was almost $4 million more than New South Parking’s.

Lawyers for other firms also expressed concern over how New South Parking would treat employees. They said the winning bid included significantly less money for security guards and porters than the other four.

“We believe the only way New South Parking could do this is to reduce existing wages and benefits or to replace existing employees with new employees for lower wages and benefits,” said Treva Metoyer-Walker, chief executive of Universal Parking, which oversees about 25 porters at LAX. “Either way, the employees lose.”

But Ray Whitmer, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 911, said all bidders for the contract had agreed to honor existing wages and collective bargaining agreements.

“We fully expect [New South Parking] will live up to its commitment to us,” said Whitmer, whose union represents about 700 parking lot workers at LAX, Van Nuys and Ontario airports.

charles.proctor@latimes.com