Order of the Director (June 09, 2022). [Determination No. ]

Author:Kevin C. Willis, Director of Airport Compliance and Management Analysis

Complainant(s): Douglas Haynes

Respondent(s): Adams County, Colorado

Airport(s):

Holding: Complaint dismissed (Summary Judgment).

Abstract: Complainant, Douglas Haynes, filed a complaint under 14 C.F.R. Part 16 against Adams County, Colorado, the sponsor of the Colorado Air and Space Port (“CASP”), alleging that the County discriminated against him on the basis of race, color, or national origin in violation of Grant…

Index Terms: Access (Taxiways and Run-up Areas); Business Activity; Discrimination (race, color, or national origin); Eviction; Grant Assurance 30, Civil Rights; Office Space; Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Vehicle Towing

Final Agency Decision (November 02, 2022). [Determination No. ]

Author:Shannetta R. Griffin, Associate Administrator for Airports

Complainant(s): Neil Kunz

Respondent(s): Salt Lake City Corporation / Salt Lake City Department of Airports, Utah

Airport(s):

Holding: Affirming Director’s Decision (complaint dismissed).

Abstract: Complainant alleged that the City violated the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Act (“URA”), 42 U.S.C § 4601, et seq., and URA-Real Property Acquisition—Certain Litigation Expenses, 49 C.F.R. § 24.107, by abandoning its condemnation action for an avigation easement over the Complainant’s property…

Index Terms: Airport Overlay Zone (AOZ); Central Regional Airports Division, AIP Sponsor Guide 500 – Planning, 562 – Zoning around Airports; Easement (Avigation); Grant Assurance 20, Hazard Removal and Mitigation; Grant Assurance 21, Compatible Land; Grant Assurance 35, Relocation and Real Property Acquisition; ILS; Runway Protection Zones (RPZ); Taking; Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (URA), 42 U.S.C § 4601, et seq.; Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property—Real Property Acquisition—Certain Litigation Expenses, 49 C.F.R. § 24.107

Director’s Determination (May 19, 2022). [Determination No. ]

Author:Kevin C. Willis, Director of Airport Compliance and Management Analysis

Complainant(s): HTX Helicopters, LLC d/b/a HeliBlock

Respondent(s): Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC)

Airport(s):

Holding: No Violation of Grant Assurances 19, 22 (in part), or 23. Violation of Grant Assurance 22 (in part) and Corrective Action Plan Required.

Abstract: Complainant alleged that Respondent violated Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination, and Grant Assurance 23, Exclusive Rights, when it denied Complainant the ability to operate out of the airport without a lease, and when it did not renew Complainant’s lease based on a contested breach of…

Index Terms: Grant Assurance 19, Operation and Maintenance; Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination; Grant Assurance 23, Exclusive Rights; Helicopter; Indemnification; Inverse Condemnation; Nuisance; Sightseeing; Similarly Situated

Final Agency Decision (July 18, 2022). [Determination No. ]

Author:Shannetta R. Griffin, Associate Administrator for Airports

Complainant(s): Mike Wilson

Respondent(s): City of Marina, California

Airport(s):

Holding: Affirming Order (dismissing complaint).

Abstract: Complainant alleged that the City “engaged in a series of acts designed to privatize the airport into an exclusive rights airport for the benefit of just one tenant, to the exclusion of all other [Specialized Aviation Service Operations] SASOs, Fixed Based Operators (FBOs), tenants, hangar…

Index Terms: Airport (Privatize); Airport (Exclusive Rights); Fixed Based Operators (“FBO”); Grant Assurance 23, Exclusive Rights; Grant Assurance 29, Airport Layout Plan; Grant Assurance 38, Hangar Construction; Lease (Negotiation); Minimum Standards; Specialized Aviation Service Operations (“SASO”)

Final Agency Decision (June 17, 2022). [Determination No. ]

Author:Shannetta R. Griffin, Associate Administrator for Airports

Complainant(s): Marina Aviation, LLC

Respondent(s): City of Marina, California

Airport(s):

Holding: Affirming Order of the Director (dismissing complaint via summary judgment).

Abstract: Complainant alleged that the City violated Grant Assurance 22 by refusing to negotiate and offer a lease extension; that another tenant was provided with a 10-year lease extension, with its economic benefits, “and thereby the City permitted this tenant to enjoy a more favorable position…

Index Terms: Airport Improvement Program (“AIP”); Default; Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination; Grant Assurance 23, Exclusive Rights; Grant Assurance 29, Airport Layout Plan; Lease (Extension); Lease (Ground); Unjust Discrimination

Final Agency Decision (August 16, 2022). [Determination No. ]

Author:Shannetta R. Griffin, Associate Administrator for Airports

Complainant(s): Jeffrey Lefever, President, Sunrise Aviation, Inc.

Respondent(s): City of Ormond Beach, Florida

Airport(s):

Holding: Affirming Director’s Determination (dismissing complaint).

Abstract: Complainant filed suit under Part 16 alleging that the City’s failure to accept its proposal for leasing three parcels of property and instead leasing them to another party (KOMN) violated Grant Assurance 22. (Director’s Determination, p. 1.) Complainant further argued that the City’s actions and/or…

Index Terms: 49 U.S.C. § 47107(a)(4); Aeronautical Activity; Fixed Base Operator (“FBO”); Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination; Grant Assurance 23, Exclusive Rights; Lease; Master Plan Update; Minimum Standards; Preferential Treatment; Unjust Discrimination

Director's Determination (January 21, 2022). [Determination No. ]

Author:Kevin C. Willis, Director, Office of Airport Compliance and Management Analysis

Complainant(s): Jason Theuma; Paragon Skydive

Respondent(s): State of Arizona Department of Transportation

Airport(s):

Holding: No Violation of Grant Assurance 23, Exclusive Rights; Violation of Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination; No Violation of Anti-Head Tax Act; Corrective Action Plan Ordered.

Abstract: Complainant, a commercial aeronautical airport tenant and skydiving operation, alleged violation of Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination; Grant Assurance 23, Exclusive Rights; and the Anti-Head Tax in a lease by imposing various fees, conditions, and requirements such as requiring skydiving liability insurance that was not…

Index Terms: Air Tour Flights; Anti-Head Tax; Contract; FAA Order 5190.B, Airport Compliance Manual; Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination; Grant Assurance 23, Exclusive Rights; Gross Receipts Fee; Insurance (Products—Completed Operations); Lease; Liability Insurance (Skydiving); Similarly Situated Tenants; Skydiving (Tandem)

Final Agency Decision (July 18, 2022). [Determination No. ]

Author:Shannetta R. Griffin, Associate Administrator for Airports

Complainant(s): Mark Smith; Kim Davidson Aviation, Inc.; Bill’s Air Center, Inc.; Justice Aviation, Inc.; National Business Aviation Association, Inc. (“NBAA”); Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Inc. (“AOPA”)

Respondent(s): City of Santa Monica

Airport(s):

Holding: Reversed as to Finding of Violation of Grant Assurance 25 (Revenue Use Policy); Affirmed in All Other Respects

Abstract: Complainants—airport tenants and organizations with members who were aviation users of the airport—argued that (1) airport revenue had been diverted through insufficiently documented alleged loans totaling $16 million from the City to the airport and that the City charged excessive interest thereon in contravention of…

Index Terms: Corrective Action Plan; “Clearly Supportable and Documented”; Fair Market Value; Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination; Grant Assurance 24, Fee and Rental Structure; Grant Assurance 25, Airport Revenues; Landing Fees; Lease (Renewal); Loans (Interest Bearing); Methodology; Non-Aeronautical Property; Rates and Charges Policy; “Reasonably Contemporaneous” (Documentation); Revenue Diversion; Revenue Use Policy; 49 U.S.C. § 47107(b)(1); 49 U.S.C. § 47133

Final Agency Decision (January 10, 2021). [Determination No. ]

Author:D. Kirk Shaffer, Associate Administrator for Airports

Complainant(s): Captain Errol Forman

Respondent(s): Palm Beach County, Florida; Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners

Airport(s):

Holding: Affirmed Violation of 49 U.S.C. § 47107(a) and Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination; Modifying Corrective Action Plan Ordered.

Abstract: Complainant, Errol Forman, alleged that Respondent violated Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination, by denying him access in his twin-engine, turbofan Cessna Citation to LNA, and that a jet ban policy at LNA was not grandfathered under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 (“ANCA”).…

Index Terms: 49 U.S.C. § 47107(a); Aeronautical Activities; Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 (“ANCA”); Ban (Aircraft); Cargo Operations; Corrective Action Plan; Grant Assurance 22, Economic Non-Discrimination; Grandfather; Jet Aircraft; Jet Noise; Jet Restriction; Ordinance (Local); National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”); Preemption; Reasonable Access; Restrictions (Safety and Efficiency); Turbofan; Unjust Discrimination; Weight Restriction

Director’s Determination on Remand (May 03, 2022). [Determination No. ]

Author:D. Kirk Shaffer, Associate Administrator for Airports

Complainant(s): United Airlines, Inc.

Respondent(s): Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Airport(s):

Holding: Affirming (Director's Determination) in Part and Remanding in Part: Violation of Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination, and Grant Assurance 25, Airport Revenues; Order to Submit Corrective Plan.

Abstract: United Airlines (“United”) filed a Part 16 Complaint alleging that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (“Port Authority”): (1) charged unreasonable rates using a fee methodology that was not cost-based and lacked transparency, in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 47107(a), Grant Assurance…

Index Terms: 49 U.S.C. § 47107; 49 U.S.C. § 40116; 49 U.S.C. § 41713; Accounting Practices; Air Carrier Access; Airline Deregulation Act; Airport and Airway Improvement Act; Anti-Head Tax Act; Audit Trail; Corrective Action Plan; Cost Allocation Methodology; Fee Methodology; Grant Assurance 22, Economic Nondiscrimination; Grant Assurance 25, Airport Revenues; Grandfathered Airport; Grandfathered Diversion; Policy and Procedures Concerning the Use of Airport Revenue; Policy Regarding Airport Rates and Charges; Record Keeping; Revenue Diversion; Surplus Revenue (Excessive); Transparency