CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Attorneys on both sides of the battle for control of Charlotte Douglas International Airport spent hours in court Thursday before the city prevailed.
Judge Robert Ervin decided to allow the city to continue running the airport while the Airport Commission seeks a stamp of approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.
City of Charlotte attorneys called the result a win.
"This is a huge victory," Bob Hagemann said. "The city's in control of the airport and we'll see where we go from here."
The commission was created by a bill that passed the North Carolina House and Senate late last week in a flurry of activity.
By law, the commission would run Charlotte Douglas, but the city would still own it.
The city argued it has an operating certificate from the FAA and handing over power immediately without the commission having its own certificate would break FAA laws.
Commission attorney Richard Vinroot disagreed.
"I don't think a new certificate is required," he said. "I think the one that's in hand is good enough."
The judge ruled that the FAA, not the court, will sort it out.
"Why don't we sit back and wait for them to decide and tell us what they're gonna do?" Ervin said.
He will leave it up to that federal agency to decide if the commission needs a new operating certificate, can use the city's or has to take other steps.
Vinroot called the decision "responsible."
"I think the court was saying not whether this commission will be established but when," he said.
The Airport Commission is now waiting to get a written court order from the judge based on his ruling, which will spell out many of the details of how it can proceed.
The city's former aviation director, Jerry Orr, is waiting in the wings as the commission's executive director.
Eyewitness News asked him how long he expects it to take to get a certificate.
"That, of course, would be up to the FAA," he said, "but I've been told that it's a very, very short process ... a matter of days."
Hagemann disagreed. He said the FAA's process is "thorough" and expects its review of the situation to take much longer.
"Clearly we've got a long way to go before this situation is finally resolved," Hagemann said.
He said even if the commission does get a green light from the FAA at some point, there is still the city's lawsuit.
"The lawsuit is alive and well," he said.
The city expects the judge's written court order to come out sometime next week.
WSOC
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