Airport(s):
Branson Regional Airport (BBG)
Abstract:
The Office of General Counsel responded to a request from Branson Airport, LLC, the private operator of the Branson Regional Airport (Missouri), asking for authorization to allow air carriers to separately list an Airport-assessed airport facility charge from the carrier’s advertised fares for air transportation to and from the Airport in Airline Fare Advertisements.|Because the private airport operator was “operating the Airport as a private entity, and not as a political subdivision, . . . [the per-passenger airport facility charge assessed on the airlines by the private operator wa]s not a government-imposed charge and therefore may not be advertised separately from the fare for air transportation.” (p. 1). “The Anti-Head Tax Act does not preclude an airport operator that is not a State, political subdivision, or person leasing or purchasing an airport under the FAA pilot program on airport privatization, from imposing head charges, directly or indirectly, on airline passengers.” (pp. 3-4).|“Only an airport controlled by a ‘public agency’–defined as a State or ‘political subdivision’ of a State–may impose a PFC. . . . The PFC program does not apply to a private operator.” (p. 4).|A privately-funded airport operator was not a political subdivision for purposes of the AHTA and the PFC program where it was not “created directly by the State, so as to constitute [a] department[] or administrative arm[] of the government,” was not “administered by individuals who are responsible to public officials or to the general electorate,” and was not “delegated the right to exercise the sovereign powers of the unit.” (p. 7). “[T]he power to tax, . . . the power of eminent domain, and . . . the police power [are] generally acknowledged ‘sovereign powers.’” (p. 7).
Index Terms:
Anti-Head Tax Act|Passenger Facility Program|Private airport operator|Rates and charges