Airport Shuttle Recommendation Boils Down to 3

Saying that questions about the shuttle companies’ licensing compliance have been resolved, a Los Angeles Airport Commission panel has recommended that Prime Time Shuttle and two other van operators receive exclusive shuttle concessions at Los Angeles International Airport.

The committee is expected to present its recommendation to the full Airport Commission in early June, in what promises to be another emotionally charged public hearing packed with angry mom-and-pop shuttle operators who claim such a move will put them out of business.

In what may be a nod to previous pressure by the shuttle owners, the staff committee this time has included Los Angeles-based Xpress Shuttle in its recommendation. Xpress is a consortium of five operators who together control 117 vans. The committee previously had suggested that only Prime Time and Phoenix-based SuperShuttle Inc.--the area’s two largest shuttle van companies--be granted full-service shuttle concessions at LAX.

The five-member board had been slated to vote on the matter last month, but it tabled the decision after the California Public Utilities Commission informed the board that all bidders for the LAX concession would need an additional level of PUC licensing.

In addition, the board had requested that its staff “investigate allegations that Prime Time Shuttle was unfit to be awarded a concession agreement” because of ongoing legal and regulatory difficulties involving the company and its founder John E. Kindt Jr., according to a May 11 staff report signed by Assistant City Atty. Timothy Hogan.

The PUC licensing snag centered on the management companies set up by the shuttle companies to bid on the LAX concession. Those bidders included independent shuttle companies that teamed up into consortia, as well as clusters of franchisees representing Prime Time and SuperShuttle.

While individual companies and franchisees may have valid PUC licenses, the PUC ruled that the management entity formed by each bidding group would have to have a license as well.

Hogan’s report says the PUC has agreed to issue “interim” PUC licenses on a “temporary” basis to all qualified applicants, thus allowing the Airport Commission to move forward with its plans to overhaul shuttle service at LAX.

Ken Koss, director of the PUC division that oversees shuttle van operations, said a decision on interim permit requests could come quickly once the concession winners have filed for them.

Koss said his staff would probably recommend approval of the requests if each applicant can prove that all its member companies hold their own PUC certificates--a prerequisite for them to have operated shuttle services in the past.

So far none of the concession applicants have requested a PUC permit, Koss said, but each has sent letters stating its intention to apply. The PUC will review the requests and determine whether the applicants meet its certification requirements on “safety and fitness.”

Winning interim authority, however, is no guarantee that the company will be issued a permanent license, particularly if their requests are contested.

In a separate regulatory tangle, Prime Time’s supervising corporate entity--Valencia-based Freehold Inc.--has been wrangling with the PUC for months over whether that entity needs a valid PUC license to operate. An administrative law judge held hearings last month on the issue but has yet to make a decision.

But Hogan’s staff report said that battle and other legal disputes involving Prime Time founder Kindt “should have no impact on Prime Time’s ability to operate a shuttle van service.” Thus the committee’s decision to continue recommending Prime Time for one of the concessions.

The latest recommendation sets the stage for yet another confrontation between small shuttle operators and LAX officials who have been trying for years to reduce the number of vans trolling for passengers at the airport.

Citing concerns over air quality, traffic jams and poor service, airport officials last year announced plans to cut the number of full-service shuttle firms from the 38 currently vying for customers at the nation’s third-busiest airport.

Small operators contend that the new plan will put many of them out of business and raise prices for consumers.

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Freelance writer Stephen Gregory contributed to this report.