In a letter to V.I. Port Authority leadership and Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. Wednesday, major airlines decried the lack of transparency around plans to redevelop the St. Thomas and St. Croix airports and said they would not sign leases or operating agreements under the current structure.
“As you are aware, the AAAC members are essential to the economic vitality and connectivity of the USVI, supporting tourism, commerce, and access for residents and visitors alike,” they wrote. “Despite paying VIPA-imposed fees that should be used to operate and improve USVI airports, AAAC members have been disappointed that, unlike surrounding airports in the region, there has been no transparency in the use of funds as it relates to the improvement of facilities.”
The letter was sent by the U.S. Virgin Islands Airlines Airport Affairs Committee and signed by representatives from American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Cape Air, Sun Country Airlines, Southwest Airlines and the trade association Airlines for America. The Virgin Islands government announced its selection of VIports Partners — a consortium of firms comprising Aecon, Tikehau Star Infra, AvPorts, Corgan Associates, Consigli Construction, J. Benton Construction and the law firms Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP and Dudley Rich LLP — to rebuild the territory’s two major airports during a press conference in April 2024. The group later formed a special purpose company dubbed “SkyCity.”
On Wednesday, airlines said they were shut out of opportunities to consult on “program operability, affordability or constructability.”
“At no point during the RFP or solicitation process were the airlines consulted or brought in to discuss program scope or P3 selection,” according to the letter. The airlines further claimed that VIPA dismissed an alternative proposal of phased, $300 million “capital core program developed over the last year in favor of the P3 proposal that well exceeds” $1 billion. They called VIPA’s plan to move forward with the public-private partnership an “unacceptable” proposition that was “not economically supportable” for AAAC members and stated that they will not enter into a lease, operating agreement, or rates and charges arrangement under the current model.
“In serving USVI airports through the years, AAAC members share VIPA’s goals of improved facilities, but we cannot ignore the need to ensure operational and economic sustainability for a program of this magnitude in the USVI,” they wrote.
Neither the V.I. Port Authority’s spokesperson nor its governing board chair, Willard John, responded to the Source’s requests for comment. Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. told the Source that former VIPA Executive Director Carlton Dowe had been speaking to the airlines about these issues for years and that “were offered a chance to move forward” with the Port Authority “and that never materialized.”
“We are moving forward with our plan and will work with the airlines to get it done,” Bryan said, adding that it was nonnegotiable that the territory needs new airports. “I don’t know anyone that would disagree with the need for one in St. Thomas, especially the people standing in line to sit in our hot, crowded departure lounge. Equally, improving our infrastructure in St. Croix is just as important.”
The threat to future airlift to the Virgin Islands came just two days after Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach announced forthcoming United Airlines flights connecting Newark and St. Croix. On the same day, Bryan delivered opening remarks for the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Caribbean Week in New York.
