BRADENTON, Fla. — A swift-moving "glitch" bill in the North Carolina General Assembly to clarify the governance of Charlotte Douglas International Airport sparked renewed criticism from city officials this week.
The bill is designed to settle the ongoing dispute as to whether a regional commission should operate Charlotte Douglas.
On Tuesday, a bill titled "Charlotte Airport Commission Clarifications" surfaced in the Senate and is quickly moving through the legislative process.
The measure provides that the commission will operate the airport on behalf of the city.
The glitch bill also requires that the commission apply for an airport operating certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is designed to potentially moot a pending lawsuit filed by the city in an attempt to block the law, according to opponents.
Charlotte Mayor Dan Clodfelter said he was "disappointed with this new piece of legislation."
"I think the airport and the community all are better served if we can first find a resolution of this dispute among interests here in Charlotte, and then decide how to put that solution into legislation," said Clodfelter, a former state senator. "I would ask that the General Assembly stand down from this new legislative proposal while local discussions in Charlotte continue."
The glitch bill passed the Senate on Wednesday. The House is slated to vote on it June 17.
During review by the Finance Committee, Sen. Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg County, said the city should have complied with the law passed last year but went to court to oppose it.
"Since then we have tried to work with them," Samuelson said. "We have not made any progress, so therefore we thought maybe we'd help get it through court by clarifying the questions the FAA has."
Charlotte issues debt for the self-supporting airport.
The governance controversy began in July 2013 with the passage of a bill appointing a 13-member commission to run the airport, and make financing decisions, instead of Charlotte.
The city opposes the legislation because it wants to retain ownership and operations of the airport it has run for nearly 80 years.
In addition to creating a commission that would run the airport, the bill requires that the city continue to be responsible for paying airport debt, and issuing bonds for capital projects recommended by the oversight panel.
The city challenged the law in court and won a preliminary injunction preventing the commission from taking control of the airport.
The legal challenge stalled in October when the FAA raised questions about the airport's operating license.
The FAA said it could not determine who would operate the airport under the new law as originally written.
In court, the city's attorneys also claimed that a change in governance could violate bond covenants, though the bill creating the new commission contains non-impairment language protecting bondholders.
The FAA's decision on the airport's operating certificate may provide guidance to the airport's bond trustee about whether a technical default could occur, Moody's Investors Service said in an August report.
Charlotte has issued $838.2 million of revenue bonds for the airport, which is the eighth-busiest in the U.S. in passengers. American Airlines and US Airways, which merged in December, operate more than 90% of the flights.
The airport' senior-lien revenue bonds are rated A-plus by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's, and Aa3 by Moody's.
