Airport authority raises airline fees

The Allegheny County Airport Authority Board on Friday unanimously approved an $88.9 million operating budget for 2009, which includes fee increases for airlines at Pittsburgh International Airport.

To accommodate the continued downsizing by US Airways, the authority said it raised landed-weight fees and terminal rents for all carriers by about 35 percent. The ramp fee rate -- a nominal part of airlines' charges -- has nearly tripled, from just under $200 per linear foot annually to $575.

That will increase the average cost for airlines to board a passenger at Pittsburgh International to $16.64 in 2009 -- a 44 percent increase from the current $11.57.

"Those numbers are concerning," said Steve Sisneros, property manager for Southwest Airlines, the second-busiest carrier in Pittsburgh after US Airways. Authority executives, however, will meet with the airlines next month to discuss trimming those costs. In addition, the authority re-evaluates costs throughout the year, and has cut fees in previous years.

The authority will pay $62.6 million in 2009 for debt service on construction of the 16-year-old airport in Findlay, which was built to US Airways' specifications. In 1997 the airline boarded nearly 19 million passengers here. Last year, that figure was just 5.2 million.

"Debt service stays the same if you run two people or 20 million through the airport," said authority Executive Director Brad Penrod. "With (fewer) passengers, the cost per unit goes up."

The 2009 operating budget, which also covers Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin, will rise 1.7 percent from this year, mostly due to increased energy costs, Gill said. The capital budget is $120.9 million, all but $14.6 million of which will come from authority-generated funds. The rest comes from federal, state and other grants.

Board member Rich Stanizzo said yesterday a third party could be hired to review two proposals to improve energy efficiency at the airport, with a decision expected at November's meeting.

"There were still some items that were ambiguous to us," he said. " We really can't get a clear understanding if one was better than the other."

James Platz of Siemens Building Technologies Inc., a bidder for that contract, said the board had delayed a decision for five months, and changed bid procedures in the interim.

"We have $1.4 billion of airport experience across the United States. Our competitor ... replaced a few light bulbs here at this airport," Platz said. The competitor is "CLT, a Charles Zappala company."

Zappala is a Pittsburgh businessman and founding investor in CLT, as well as a brother of former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen A. Zappala and uncle of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. Neither Charles Zappala nor CLT President Troy Geanopulos returned a call for comment.

Platz later declined to say whether he thought Zappala's firm was getting preferential treatment.

"I would say there's a delay in the process and we'd like to know why," Platz said. "We're just asking questions. We don't have the answers."

Penrod said the contract is a new hybrid that combines design and bid aspects. The state government is sponsoring a workshop to educate stakeholders about it.

"We want to make the right decision the first time," he said.

Penrod, Stanizzo and board chair Glenn Mahone said the bidding process is proceeding in accordance with the law and airport policy, and that Zappala is exerting no influence over it.