LOS ANGELES : U.S. Issues Policy Guide on Airport Landing Fees

U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena on Friday issued policy guidelines intended to prevent disputes over landing fees from erupting into the sort of crisis that developed at Los Angeles International Airport.

Pena promised last week to spell out a more aggressive federal role in such controversies after he helped resolve an impasse between the airline industry and the Los Angeles Airport Commission over a tripling of landing fees. The airlines at first refused to pay the fees. After a war of words, the city threatened to virtually close down the airport if the fees were not paid.

In a letter to airports and airlines, Pena encouraged parties in landing fee disputes “to work together responsibly . . . and step back from inflexible negotiation tactics and rhetorical excess.” But if a dispute threatens to disrupt national air service, Pena said the department “will not hesitate to use its legal authority to review the legality of proposed airport rates.”

Among the possible actions Pena outlined were audits of airport records, subpoenas for testimony, evidentiary hearings and withholding grants. Pena also emphasized that airlines cannot choose to pay only those rates they consider to be reasonable.