Port Authority Will Continue To Service City's Airports MARCH 21ST, 2002 FROM NY1 In January of last year, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani promised that the Port Authority would no longer service the city’s airports. At that point, Giuliani was so fed up with the Port Authority and the service it was providing at the airports, he hired a private company, the British Airport Authority, or BAA, to eventually take it over. Now, a BAA spokesman said that’s not going to happen. The spokesman said the deal reportedly went sour after September 11 because the Giuliani Administration didn't think it was appropriate to continue pushing privatization. Bloomberg Administration sources said the new mayor wants to keep the Port Authority in control of Laguardia and Kennedy – even though they consistently rank among the nation's worst airports. One Bloomberg aide said it’s part of a broad strategy to improve relations with all of the city's partners. The port authority just seems happy to have a partner again. "The Port Authority is encouraged by the actions that the Bloomberg Administration has taken so far in establishing negotiations to extend the lease on the airports,” a spokesman told NY1. “The agency is hopeful that an agreement can be worked out." Giuliani had no comment. The Port Authority's lease isn't up for another 13 years, but the city's new plan helps it out, since banks don't want to lend money to the P.A. for expensive, long-term projects if they're not sure it'll be around to pay the bills. The city will benefit from a quick deal too. “We need more money,” said Council Speaker Gifford Miller. “We have a real fiscal problem right now and we've been getting a bad deal for a long time.” The Port Authority currently owes the city up to $1 billion in back rent. While neither side was willing to talk specifics, the city could demand any of the following: a big payment upfront; a drastic increase in the minimum rent the Port Authority has to pay; a guarantee that the P.A. spend airport profits on the airports, not on money-losers like the PATH train. The deal could also get caught up in negotiations over the World Trade Center site, which the Port Authority also controls. The city would like to determine once and for all how much the P.A. should be paying in property taxes. The city council, which might have to approve any deal, would also like better transportation, said Miller, “because that's what people really care about, getting in and out of the city.” No one knows when a deal might be done. Discussions are still in the early stages and Bloomberg officials wouldn't say if they've completely taken privatization off the table. But it certainly won't be the company Giuliani had wanted. A BAA spokesman said running New York's airports is nowhere on the horizon. Kerri Lyon Attend the Newark Airport Airline Collectible Show & Sale: http://www.freeyellow.com/members/psa188/page1.html