AirTran Airways has reached a seven-year lease deal with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, following in the footsteps of Delta Air Lines' new lease last year.
The city approved Delta's new seven-year lease last November, which kept Delta's expenses at roughly the same level as the old lease, aside from increases when the airport's new international terminal opens in 2012.
Federal regulations require that airports such as Hartsfield-Jackson do not discriminate between airline tenants by using different lease terms and rates, so Delta's lease set a model for other airlines' leases with Hartsfield-Jackson and AirTran's lease is expected to have many similar terms.
Atlanta-based Delta is the largest airline at Hartsfield-Jackson while Orlando-based AirTran is second largest, and both have hubs at the Atlanta airport.
Hartsfield-Jackson spokesman John Kennedy said the airport on Friday submitted legislation on the AirTran lease to City Hall.
The lease is expected to go before the council's transportation committee July 14. AirTran's existing lease expires Sept. 20. AirTran spokesman Christopher White said it was "premature to release the terms because it still has to be approved by the transportation committee and by the city council."
City Council member Felicia Moore, who sits on the council's transportation committee that oversees the airport, said at a council meeting in May that some of the airport's current budget problems are a result of concessions the airport made to Delta under the lease approved last year. Getting the Delta lease done was seen as key to keeping the airport's international terminal project on track, as it assured construction bond buyers of a stable major tenant.
"When we decided to do the lease extension, we set ourselves up for many of the scenarios that we have here, " Moore said in May. She said Friday she hasn't seen enough of the new lease to take a position.
Hartsfield-Jackson estimated its revenues have been reduced by $17 million due to lease changes. The airport laid off about 67 employees in June.
AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson said AirTran would maintain the same number of gates at Hartsfield-Jackson under the new lease, with 22 gates on Concourse C and 11 gates on Concourse D, but will not be able to consolidate the gates on one concourse.
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