The recent actions by newly and re-elected members of the Paulding
County Commission, which attempt to reverse the progress Paulding
County Airport Authority and Propeller
Airports have made to bring limited commercial air service and
related economic development to the county, is yet another attempt, we
believe, by Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) to maintain its near monopoly of
air travel in metro-Atlanta.
“It is not a surprise that the first act of these three commissioners is
to try to stop the years-long progress of improving Silver
Comet Field for the residents of Paulding County,” said Brett Smith,
CEO of Propeller Airports, which has a contract with the Paulding County
Airport Authority to develop Silver Comet Field. “We saw this coming.
Delta has had a slew of lawyers on this and there are even circumstances
surrounding the election of these three commissioners that don’t add up.
This is just another reason we filed the complaint with the United
States Department of Transportation (DOT) last October and we are
encouraged that the DOT continues to investigate these issues.”
At Tuesday’s commission meeting in remote Paulding County, there were
attorneys with ties to Delta in attendance.
As stated in the complaint filed with the DOT against Delta, Propeller
and Paulding County officials believe it is in the public interest for
the Secretary of the U.S. DOT to investigate the campaign, orchestrated
and perpetuated by Delta Air Lines, to prevent the establishment of a
second air carrier airport in the metro-Atlanta region by using unfair
and deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition.
Recently re-elected Commissioner Todd Pownall, along with newly elected
Commissioners Tony Crowe and Vernon Collett, put forth three agenda
items on Tuesday in an orchestrated attempt to derail Silver Comet Field
from receiving its Part 139 Certificate from the Federal Aviation
Administration – the certificate needed to begin commercial air service.
Propeller and the airport authority believe that the one agenda item
which passed, to withdraw Paulding County Commission support for the
Part 139 Certificate request from the Federal Aviation Administration,
will not hinder the future of commercial service at the airport. There
are two sponsors for the Certificate – the county and the airport
authority – and both parties must jointly agree to remove the request.
The Paulding County Airport Authority does not agree to withdraw its
request.
However, the more serious initiative was the introduction of two agenda
items which sought to remove several Paulding County Industrial Building
Authority and Paulding County Airport Authority board members who
support the commercialization of Silver Comet Field and replace them
with people who oppose that plan. Those items were tabled to allow the
county attorney time to investigate whether the Paulding County Board of
Commissioners has the authority to remove and replace members of these
two boards without cause.
After conferring with various experts in constitutional law and county
board appointments, we believe the Board of Commissioners does not have
the authority to make those changes.
The Paulding County Airport Authority and Propeller look forward to the
completion of the environmental assessment and the day when limited
commercial air service and related economic growth at Silver Comet Field
is a reality.
About Propeller:
Propeller Investments leverages highly experienced aerospace and
transportation entrepreneurs with the financial expertise and
demonstrated record of making strategic investments and developing top
caliber projects. Silver Comet is operated by Propeller Airports is a
subsidiary of Propeller Investments. Propeller is based in New York and
has offices in Atlanta and Dublin, Ireland.
Copyright Business Wire 2015