Some airlines to add $10 to LAX flights
Marilyn Adams and Roger Yu, USA TODAY, 4/12/2007
A battle between Los Angeles International Airport and its tenant airlines escalated Wednesday when at least three major carriers slapped $10 surcharges on flights departing from LAX.
The move by United, Delta and US Airways for the first time brings travelers directly into the long-running dispute between LAX and the airlines that operate at the USA's No. 4 airport. The three airlines account for 32% of the seats departing LAX this month, according to schedule information from Back Aviation Solutions.
Seeking to cover higher security and other costs, LAX in December sharply raised the fees it charges airlines for use of the airport throughout the year.
United Airlines, LAX's largest carrier, on Wednesday placed a $10 surcharge on all domestic and international tickets for flights from LAX. United said the move would recoup $10 million in extra fees for 2006.
The airport, in a statement, called the surcharge unjustified and accused United of "exploiting" the dispute to boost profits from LAX. It said the surcharge would generate $48 million this year. Delta Air Lines and US Airways Wednesday added a $10 surcharge on domestic flights from LAX.
United, along with American Airlines and Continental Airlines, has sued LAX in federal court, charging that the airport illegally changed the terms in their leases to raise more money. The airlines want to recoup the extra fees paid last year and roll back the fee structure now in place.
Thirty other carriers, including seven from the USA, have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation, seeking the same result.
"This is a very significant case," said Los Angeles lawyer Robert Span, who is representing United, American and Continental in federal court. "It will probably establish some precedents for airports around the country. LAX is trying to break new ground."
Span says the case potentially involves hundreds of millions of dollars over the lives of the airlines' leases.
According to a DOT document, the airport increased fees by applying them to previously unallocated expenses such as roadway access and airport security. It also began charging rent for previously excluded space, such as corridors.
The agency that runs LAX said in a statement the airport "has a right to pass along increases in its costs of operating the terminals." Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, it said, the airport "has largely shouldered increased security costs itself. The subsidization of these costs... has become onerous and unfair."
The number of departures from LAX has declined in recent years, and the airport is upgrading its aging facility to stay competitive. Earlier this year, it announced plans to renovate the Tom Bradley International Terminal for $723 million.