Driving the news: The Charlotte City Council is expected to vote Monday, Nov. 9, on the AULA.
What they say: “I’ve already made it clear that I will go to the Department of Transportation, I will go to the administration, I will go wherever I have to for the DOT to do exactly what we can do right now,” Tillis said on the R&D in NC podcast, hosted by former City Council members Tariq Bokhari and Larken Egleston.
- Tillis says his action would be a “failsafe” and something he doesn’t want to do, but he would do it if he deemed it necessary.
- “I’ve seen city councils destroy airports and have to recover from it,” Tillis says.
Catch up quickly: CLT’s proposed AULA would launch a $2.1 billion capital development project called CLT Beyond and keep the airport’s signatory airlines, including American Airlines, here for the next decade.
- CLT belongs to the city but is financially independent.
Zoom: Concerns have been raised about workers’ pay and conditions, which are not included in the AULA. State law does not allow the city to intervene in subcontractor compensation. Nonetheless, council members raised questions regarding these concerns.
- “I think the thing is, to be fair to them, they believe they are the champions of the little guy,” Bokhari said on the podcast.
- “I don’t care,” Tillis replied. “You are a champion of the little guy at this airport complex, because if you want to diminish our reputation and our competitive advantage right now, there is a reason why we are a hub for American Airlines. We are the most profitable hub in their system and that is because Jerry Orr and subsequent airport administrators have remained true to their mission of making the airport the best it can be without government interference.”
Context: State lawmakers passed a law in 2013 to create an airport authority independent of the Charlotte City Council (Tillis was Speaker of the House of Representatives at the time).
- After legal discussions with the city, the authority was replaced by a commission. The Federal Aviation Administration never approved the transfer of control of the airport.
Flashback: Charlotte’s airport was established in the 1930s largely at the expense of the federal government, primarily through funding from the Works Progress Administration, allowing people to work during the Great Depression.
- As CLT has evolved, it has been instrumental in Charlotte’s growth and has become a selling point as companies set up headquarters in the city.
The bottom line: Tillis says he’s willing to “move heaven and earth to create an airport authority” if someone in local government “thinks outside the box.”
Axios has reached out to Tillis’ office for additional comment. A spokesperson for Charlotte Douglas International Airport declined to comment on Tillis’ statements.
Go further: CLT Upgrade Plans
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