Accord Averts LAX Shutdown : Aviation: City and airline officials settle landing fee dispute after grueling talks and intervention by secretary of transportation. Details will be announced today.
WASHINGTON — A shutdown of most airline operations at Los Angeles International Airport was averted late Tuesday when negotiators for the airline industry and the city of Los Angeles agreed to settle their five-month dispute over airport landing fees.
The settlement came just before midnight EST, after 14 1/2 hours of grueling talks and the personal intervention of U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena.
Pena, accompanied by airline and city officials, emerged from his offices to say that an agreement in principle had been reached to prevent the lockout of about 75 airlines, which the city had threatened to impose at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
“When the agreement is finalized tomorrow, this will avoid any disruption of transportation, air traffic at Los Angeles airport,” Pena said as he stood in front of Los Angeles Airport Commission President Ted Stein, Federal Aviation Administrator David Hinson and William D. Temko, an attorney representing the airlines and the Air Transport Assn. of America.
Pena said details of the agreement will not be announced until today, after it is reviewed by senior management of the airlines and other principals.
Federal transportation officials had insisted on the talks, saying that it was vital to the nation’s air transportation system that they avoid a disruption of operations at the nation’s third-busiest airport.
The 75 airlines, which account for more than 90% of the takeoffs and landings at LAX, had refused to pay fees that were increased July 1. The fees were raised from 51 cents per 1,000 pounds to $1.56 per 1,000 pounds, or the equivalent of $900 for a Boeing 747.
City officials say the higher fees are in line with charges at other major airports and are needed to maintain airport facilities. The nation’s major airlines and many foreign carriers called the charges excessive. The airlines contend that the city really wants to use the money to beef up its treasury to hire more police officers. But Mayor Richard Riordan and his representatives said they will only make such a diversion if the federal government removes the legal barriers that currently prevent it.
Airline executives had hinted privately Monday that they were prepared to resolve the dispute by paying the fees into an escrow account, permitting them to receive refunds if the charges are later ruled excessive.
But that sentiment apparently did not make negotiations any easier as the two sides gathered at 9 a.m. in Pena’s 10th-floor conference room. Going into Tuesday’s meeting, city officials had balked at any concessions, saying they need all of the landing fees now to pay for airport operations.
Sources said airline officials wanted some assurances that fees at LAX could not be raised again at least until next summer and also asked that Department of Transportation officials outline a policy for mediating future fee disputes. It was unclear how those proposals were received.
None of the three dozen negotiators emerged during the lengthy bargaining session. Federal officials, Los Angeles airport representatives and airline industry officials huddled in separate rooms, shuttling proposals back and forth. Occasionally, the whole group would gather in the main conference room, with the FAA’s Hinson and Steve Kaplan, the Transportation Department’s general counsel.
The city was represented by Stein, airport Executive Director Jack Driscoll, City Atty. James K. Hahn and lobbyist James F. Seeley, as well as its two Washington attorneys. Arrayed against the city officials were representatives of about 10 major airlines and officials of the Air Transport Assn. of America, a trade industry organization.
After nearly 12 hours of talks, Pena personally intervened by joining the group and urging a settlement. When most of the airline industry contingent finally emerged at 10:30 p.m. EST they appeared grim and were unwilling to answer reporters’ questions.
Pena described all the parties as “extraordinarily tired” but congratulated them for maintaining their senses of humor “despite a few tense moments.”
If negotiations had failed, said Department of Transportation spokesman Richard Mintz, then Pena would have had several options to consider to keep LAX open. He did not elaborate.
The threat of a lockout of the 75 airlines has prompted hundreds of nervous calls to the airlines by prospective passengers. But despite the looming Saturday deadline for the lockout to begin, airline employees were assuring callers Tuesday that their flights would be leaving as scheduled this weekend.
The Cost of Landing
In July, Los Angeles International Airport tripled airline landing fees, but many carriers have refused to pay the increase. Beginning Dec. 4, the Airport Commission plans to prohibit takeoffs by airlines that refuse to pay the higher fees. An average Boeing 747 would pay about $900 to land at LAX. Charges at other airports include: Airport: Landing Fee per 1,000 Pounds La Guardia (N.Y.): $3.50 Kennedy (N.Y.): $2.40 Newark: $2.37 Seattle: $2.01 O’Hare (Chicago): $1.89 Denver: $1.76 Dallas: $1.75 Boston: $1.69 LOS ANGELES: $1.56 Honolulu: $1.37 Miami: $0.99 San Francisco: $0.78 Atlanta: $0.64 Note: LAX’s old rate was $0.51
Source: Los Angeles Department of Airports
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