Parking Authority To Take Over Airport Lots

"We're going to save money and do more things for the public, too," said Joseph M. Egan Jr., Parking Authority executive director.

Valet parking, speedier check-outs and frequent-flier parking discounts will be added in months to come, Egan said.

Since the city built and opened the airport lots in the 1970s, it has paid private companies to run them - most recently, Central Parking Corp., of Nashville, Tenn., whose five-year contract ends Oct. 31.

The Parking Authority plans to offer jobs to some 125 unionized cashiers and other personnel who are working the airport lots for Central.

But it expects to save the $425,000 annual management fee now paid to Central, along with possible reductions in operating costs.

Under federal law, any savings would reduce the fees paid by commercial airlines to use the airport for takeoffs and landings. In the budget year ended June 30, the airport parking operation generated a $14.5 million profit, according to Parking Authority spokeswoman Linda J. Miller.

Executives at Central Parking had no comment on the shift.