One of the most volatile and consequential conversations imaginable in Georgia politics is about to begin in the state Capitol.
On Wednesday, Burt Jones, R-Jackson, will convene a 13-member Senate study committee to determine if the state should assume oversight of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a vast economic engine that has been owned and operated by the city of Atlanta for more than 90 years.
Republicans on the study committee outnumber Democrats, eight to five. No members are from Atlanta proper, though Democrat Valencia Seay is a resident of Clayton County, where the bulk of the airport is located.
Among his motivations, Jones lists the inordinate control that a single individual — the mayor of Atlanta — has over an entity crucial to the economic health of the entire state. And there’s the corruption issue.
“If there wasn’t all these allegations and this cloak of suspicion, we probably wouldn’t have to be having this conversation,” Jones told me.
Delta Air Lines, the state’s largest private employer and the airport’s most influential tenant, has already come out against a transfer of ownership.
Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor, acknowledges that the procurement process at Hartsfield-Jackson needs to be strengthened, and more transparency is required. She doesn’t, however, think the state should be allowed to reap the benefits of the risks that Atlanta has assumed with multiple expansions of the airport since the days of Maynard Jackson.
Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore intends to attend every meeting of the Senate committee. “I want to make sure they understand the nature of the goose and all that it means,” Moore said. Yes, goose — as in golden.
Jones and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms have spoken several times over the past few weeks. Both describe the conversations as cordial, but they have discovered no common ground.
“She doesn’t agree with what I’m going for, but she’s been very pleasant,” Jones said.
Mayor Bottoms has her own important take. “The state has the right to study whatever it chooses to study. But I do hope that it is a very reasonable and truthful conversation,” she said.
Bottoms used one particular word to describe the impact such a move would have: “Catastrophic.” She said much more, but let us stick with Jones for a few more paragraphs.
The senator said he plans a very deliberate approach. This first meeting is likely to be organizational in nature. “There’s nothing wrong with having patience,” Jones said.
The senator said his committee faces three hurdles. First, there’s the question of whether state oversight of the airport would be in the best financial interest of the state as a whole. Which is certain to produce reams of arguments on both sides.
Then there’s the Federal Aviation Administration, which has the final say-so over who owns the airport operating certificate, without which Hartsfield-Jackson would become the world’s largest flea market. There’s some history here.
In 2013, the GOP-controlled legislature in North Carolina passed a measure creating a new commission that would oversee the city of Charlotte's airport. The struggle quickly moved to court, where it lingered for three years. In 2016, the FAA announced that it would accept changes in airport management "only upon a legally definitive resolution of a dispute."
Charlotte has retained control of its airport.
If that policy still holds, the FAA will have a large say in whether Jones’ effort sprouts legs.
Then there’s Jones’ third concern: The implications of shifting the financial obligations now attached to the airport, from the city of Atlanta to the state.
Here we must bring back Mayor Bottoms. In 2016, city officials and Delta signed a 20-year lease. Negotiations were headed up by Mayor Kasim Reed and Delta CEO Richard Anderson. The airline promised to keep its headquarters in Atlanta. In turn, Atlanta promised that it wouldn’t support a second airport, and wouldn’t sell Hartsfield-Jackson.
At the same time, a $6 billion expansion of the airport was financed. And somewhere in the contractual language setting all this in motion, a pill was inserted — which may not be poisonous, but could certainly prove expensive.
“The details are a bit complicated, but if there’s a change in [airport] ownership, there are some bonds and other things that would be called due,” Bottoms said. “I don’t know of a way the state could satisfy the financial implications of what would happen.”
Basically, should the state assume management of the airport, $2.4 billion in bonds would have to be renegotiated and reissued in the state’s name. Immediately, and probably with a penalty.
A state takeover of the airport has been considered before by Republicans in the state Capitol. In 2004, state Rep. Earl Ehrhart of Powder Springs introduced a bill to accomplish just that. But Democrats still controlled the House, and the measure didn’t move.
Yet I asked Bottoms if the possibility were on the minds of city and airline negotiators in 2016. “I can’t imagine that it was not contemplated. It certainly addresses this issue, and stops it in its tracks,” the mayor said. “So I would imagine it’s intentional, and very thoughtful.”
As for Jones’ other points: Bottoms said the mayor of Atlanta isn’t the sole ruler of Hartsfield-Jackson. The city council has had oversight, too, she said. (Though it is possible that some council members might disagree.)
“The airport has survived decades and multiple changes in leadership, and it’s still besting every other airport in the world,” Bottoms said. “The need to now tamper with something that’s running well — it doesn’t mean it’s perfect, but I’ve never seen anything that says a state authority would be perfect either.”
Bottoms wasn’t crass enough to say so, but others are sure to point out that only last year, a state-owned bridge on I-85 caught fire and collapsed. The state, through the Public Service Commission, also has oversight of the construction of those two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. The project is on shaky ground.
Now, as for corruption at Atlanta City Hall.
“When you have isolated incidents related to corruption, that doesn’t mean that you throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Bottoms said. “Furthermore, in this most recent FBI investigation, I’m unaware of anything that has spoken to corruption at the airport. Everything that I’ve seen relates to snow contracts and vendors inside of City Hall.
“So if that’s the basis for forming the committee, [Jones] can call off the meeting before they even convene,” Bottoms said.
A couple things here: First, the Federal Aviation Administration has opened an inquiry into the possible misuse of millions of dollars in airport revenue to pay legal fees associated with a federal corruption investigation at City Hall.
A second fact: The Reed administration hid a September 2016 federal subpoena for construction and concessions contracts at Hartsfield-Jackson.
But so far, Bottoms is right. No shoes have dropped that specifically point to problems at the airport. Even so, for the next several months, the possibility is likely to be a topic of conversation and scrutiny in the Capitol.
And needless to say, a topic of concern in City Hall.
