Local

Critics Say Cost And Ethics Issues Cloud Opening Of New Airport Terminal

May 16th, 2012

Hartsfield-Jackson Airport’s new international terminal opened Wednesday but not everyone is celebrating. Critics of the project suggest it’s a waste of money and potentially rife with corruption.

Former investigative reporter and current talk show host Dale Cardwell argues Atlanta doesn’t need a new terminal. He and the government watchdog group Common Cause Georgia have teamed up to study the numbers on the old international terminal, Concourse E. Cardwell says it’s currently under capacity.

“Concourse E was built to be able to handle six to eight thousand passengers an hour. Best case scenario, Concourse E generally approaches maybe four thousand passengers an hour twice a day and that’s very rare when it does that,” says Cardwell.

Based on his estimates of passenger traffic, he argues the project comes at too hefty a cost – nearly $140 million per year in new passenger fees.

Sonji Jacobs, a spokeswoman for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, acknowledges international traffic has been down during the recession, but insists the new terminal is worth the $1.4 billion price tag.

“The FAA is forecasting international passenger traffic will increase by more than 30 percent by 2015 to 13 million. So we very much believe the international terminal is going to help the city and that it was a very wise investment,” says Jacobs.

Meanwhile, William Perry of Common Cause Georgia says at the very least there’s a strong perception of pay-to-play for new terminal-related contracts. Perry points out Mayor Reed has taken more than $190,000 in campaign contributions from winning contract bidders and their affiliates.

“We want to see campaign contributions not have the perception of guiding a process but there’s such a strong case that that’s what’s happening here,” says Perry.

He’s now pushing for reforms that would set a $250 limit for campaign contributions from contract bidders and those related to the bidders.

Jacobs calls Perry’s allegations baseless. She says all contributions were legal, publicly reported, and had no impact on the procurement process.

“Mayor Reed has raised more than $3.7 million from the start of his mayoral campaign. The amount of money that airport concessionaires have contributed to his campaign amounts to less than five percent of the total,” says Jacobs.