Airport Services

When you are grappling with the complex legal requirements of your airport development matters, our attorneys have experience to assist you in the development of terminal facilities, fuel farms, consolidated rental car facilities, airport hotels, and air cargo facilities, overseeing teams of legal professionals or providing specific legal services. We negotiate term sheets and underlying leases, financing documents and construction contracts, provide legal counsel during construction, oversee concessions leasing, and negotiate fueling and hotel flag agreements. We also have provided counsel with respect to public-private partnership transactions, including privatization of a county-owned airport, a privatized terminal development, and the proposed lease of all landside facilities at an airport.

We provide counsel on federal regulatory requirements, and partner with your airport general counsel to advise on revenue use and anti-diversion requirements, permissible on-airport development, compliance with TSA security regulations, other Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements, and U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigations, exclusive use requirements, and the FAA’s proposed SMS rulemaking.

We provide regulatory counsel to airports on a wide variety of matters — everything from the development of air service incentive programs and funding of mass transit service to airports to the development of minimum standards for FBOs and permissible uses of PFCs for airport development. We also handle Defense of Part 16 complaints and respond to investigations by the FAA and OIG.

We structure, prepare, and negotiate use and lease agreements to establish flexible business and operating relationships with your airline tenants and users. We also help draft and structure ratemaking ordinances at the conclusion of long-term use and lease agreements. We understand both the legal requirements relating to ratemaking and the airport’s need to maintain a rate per passenger that is attractive for both existing and new carriers.

For example, over the past few years, we have worked with three airports, a large hub, a medium hub, and a small hub, to develop new ratemaking methodologies. The concerns and requirements of the three airports differ greatly in certain respects, and are remarkably similar in others. We helped these clients develop a structure that meets their unique needs. Our attorneys have prepared and negotiated new use agreements, and amendments to existing agreements, for many U.S. airports and negotiated leases with most major carriers, including American Airlines, British Airways, Delta, Federal Express, Jet Blue, Southwest, United, US Airways, and Virgin Atlantic.

We have represented airport clients in negotiations with commercial concessions tenants and licensees, hotel operators, public parking operators, advertisers, and rental car and other ground transportation operators. We can advise you on public bidding and proposal requirements, assist in evaluating bids and proposals, and participate in the development and implementation of airport concession disadvantaged business enterprise (ACDBE) and airport concessions policies.

Specifically, we:

• Draft concessions and rental car policies
• Draft and help award various types of concession requests for proposals and agreements
• Negotiate airport hotel development agreements and leases with many major hoteliers and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
• Assist in the development of RFPs and RFQs for food and beverage, news and gift, rental car, and advertising concessions, and parking and security management services as well as develop agreements between airports and concessionaires or operators
• Help develop and implement ACDBE policies and provide counsel concerning the FAA’s ACDBE regulations

Our Finance attorneys have extensive experience to help you with every type of sophisticated financing mechanism, including GARBs, letters of credit, multiple lien structures, passenger facility charge (PFC) bonds, special facilities revenue bonds, interest rate swaps, and commercial paper programs. We regularly provide counsel to airports seeking FAA approval to impose and/or use PFCs and to airports seeking FAA LOIs under the airport improvement grant program. We serve as bond counsel for several airports, and we also have served as special counsel to the airport issuer, disclosure counsel, and underwriter’s counsel. We also provide counsel concerning disclosure issues in annual financial statements and comprehensive annual financial reports as well as under SEC rule 15c2-12.

Additionally, we have participated in numerous special facilities revenue bond issues to finance necessary airport facilities, including fuel systems, terminal improvements, consolidated rental car facilities, and air cargo facilities, backed by many of the world’s largest airlines, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and US Airways, or rental car companies.

During the past 25 years, we have represented a consortia of airports, ranging from large hubs to small airports, in all major airline bankruptcies, including American Airlines, US Airways I and II, United I and II, Delta, and Northwest as well as the bankruptcy of smaller carriers, including ATA, Skybus, and Aloha.

We provide counsel in specific matters during the pendency of an airline bankruptcy, such as renegotiation of a terminal lease with Delta Air Lines securing special facilities revenue bonds and renegotiating a fuel system lease with Northwest. In addition, we have provided counsel to airports in the bankruptcy of other airport tenants, including concessionaires, rental car companies, and fixed-base operators.

We work with you to develop effective rules and regulations, minimum standards, internal policies, and other legal guidelines to regulate the operations and activities of airport tenants and guests in accordance with federal grant assurances and other legal requirements. We provide regulatory counsel to airports on a wide variety of matters, including the development of air service incentive programs.

We have participated in the acquisition of more than $750 million of land for airport expansion, facility improvement, and environmental compliance. Specifically, we can assist you with negotiation of option agreements, aviation easements, noise covenants, and zoning ordinances, as well as with developing and implementing voluntary and involuntary land acquisition programs consistent with Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act, including relocation programs.

Our litigators can represent you in a wide variety of matters, including defense of Part 16 complaints alleging violation of federal grant assurances, construction litigation, eminent domain matters, and enforcement of concessions contracts. We also will represent you in investigations by the DOT OIG and provide counsel in the event of an FAA investigation.

We can assist you in reaching mutually satisfactory arrangements with other governmental parties and partners. We have provided counsel to airports concerning many matters affecting other public entities, including the “Big Dig”, Southwest’s ability to expand service at Love Field, taxation disputes, negotiation of payment in lieu of tax agreements, and negotiation of mass transit arrangements. We also regularly provide counsel to airports and trade groups on pending legislation and regulations, including providing assistance in preparing comments.