Head of Charlotte airport responds to lawsuit, authority passage

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Aviation Director Jerry Orr was poised to move forward with an authority at Charlotte-Douglas Airport until a judge granted an injunction, putting the plans he's supported on pause.

"Litigation is never fun," he said of the city of Charlotte's lawsuit over losing control of the airport. "At least it's never been fun for me. It will be whatever it is."

Right after the Senate passed the airport authority legislation, creating a regional airport board that would run the airport with Orr, the city filed for a temporary restraining order and received it.

Orr has voiced his support for an authority, saying it would allow the airport to be more flexible and respond faster to vendors and travelers.

Orr said under an authority, passengers wouldn't notice any big changes.

"All they care about are their own personal needs," he said "Those will not change at all."

Under the current temporary restraining order, it will be business as usual for travelers and employees, at least until a full hearing in 10 days. There is a lot at stake for the city.

According to Charlotte Douglas Airport, the airport contributes $1.9 million every year to the city for administrative services, including part of the mayor's salary. It's unclear under an authority how much of that money would stop flowing.

"It depends on what services the city might continue to provide," Orr said. "Whatever services the city continues to provide us, we would reimburse them for that."

There are 388 full- and part-time city employees at the airport, including engineers, mechanics, and electricians.

Even if an authority wins in court, they would all stay city employees until the end of the year.

There are also 58 members of the Charlotte Fire Department stationed there and 50 CMPD officers working there. It is unclear whether an authority would choose to have them remain on, especially CMPD.

A big potential change could be switching back to airport police from CMPD for security. The city-initiated switch to CMPD was criticized by lawmakers behind the authority bill because it increased the cost of security, which was passed on to airlines like U.S. Airways.

Orr said he wouldn't make any big changes until a full, true authority board is appointed. That needs to happen by October, and in the meantime, the current airport advisory committee, appointed by the mayor and city council, will act like a stand-in authority board.

Gov. Pat McCrory said his big concern is keeping U.S Airways happy. The airline employs 7,100 people in Charlotte.

"Send a strong signal to U.S Airways that we're strong," McCrory said, "we're going to continue to operate in an efficient way through whatever process we go through, political or legal."

U.S Airways issued a statement: "What's important to U.S Airways is not who owns the airport, but that it be managed in a way that protects its value as an economic engine for the region."c

WSOC