Dec. 19--FORT WALTON BEACH--Okaloosa County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to sue Vision Airlines to recoup more than $146,000 in unpaid fees.
The board authorized Airports Director Greg Donovan to work with county attorneys to take Vision to court if it doesn't pay its debt by Dec. 31.
"I still do not know the specifics of why they aren't paying this bill," said Donovan, who added that communication with Vision has been inconsistent. "We're given promises of payment. Communication starts ... and then it breaks off."
Vision Airlines, which began offering flights at Northwest Florida Regional Airport in December 2010, suspended its service locally last February.
The discount carrier owes the county $146,973, most of which are unpaid passenger facility charges. The rest is unpaid utility, rent and fuel expenses.
Vision owes similar debts in other cities it served, including Louisville, Ky., Gulfport, Miss., Little Rock, Ark., and Baton Rouge, La.
"We are not alone in this discrepancy," Donovan told commissioners.
A $4.50 passenger facility charge is collected by each airline for every paying passenger flying out of Northwest Florida Regional. The airlines keep 11 cents from each charge and are supposed to pay the remaining $4.39 to the airport within 30 days after the end of the month it is collected.
Commissioner Dave Parisot said Vision Airlines is contractually obligated to pay the funds to the county, and its failure to do so "could be construed as larceny."
He said Vision Airlines has "absolutely no reason" not to have repaid the charges by now.
Donovan said he was disappointed that the county had to consider legal action against the carrier, but noted that the unpaid fees are critical to the airport's operation.
"It's money that is generated at and due to the airport," said Donovan, who added that the passenger facility charges pay for capital improvements.
Donovan told commissioners that although Vision still owes the county money, the company's impact on the community "was very positive economically."
He said the competition Vision generated when it expanded to Northwest Florida "couldn't have come at a better time" and brought much-needed business in the months following the BP oil spill.
"What Vision Airlines did for our community was very tangible," Donovan added. "But it doesn't relieve them" from their obligation to pay the county the money it's owed.
Donovan told commissioners it's important to remember the value of attracting low-cost carriers that are willing to take a risk.
"It's not something that should be negative," he said.
Donovan said the airport did not lose money in 2011 or 2012, and that the community "greatly benefited from having that (Vision Airlines) activity here."
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.
Copyright 2012 - Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
