"New rules at Detroit airport clamp down on limo drivers"

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

New rules at Metro airport clamp down on limo drivers
By Andy Henion
The Detroit (MI) News


ROMULUS -- Officials at Detroit Metropolitan Airport established tough new
rules Wednesday aimed at stopping chauffeurs from wandering the terminals to
solicit fares.

The rules -- part of a settlement with a group of 40 limousine and cab
companies -- require vehicle-for-hire drivers to park in designated areas
and obtain credentials before entering the airport. Chauffeurs must then
stand in a designated area while waiting for their pre-arranged fares. Those
caught soliciting will be kicked out.

"Many of our customers have been very annoyed at this soliciting," said
Michael Conway, spokesman for the Wayne County Airport Authority, which runs
the airport. "It was very difficult to control. It's still going to happen
.but it's going to be a lot more difficult now."

Forty limousine and cab companies had sued the authority in June over a new
policy that prohibited the drivers from meeting passengers inside the
airport and hiked the drivers' per-trip fee to $10 from $3.

A settlement reached Wednesday keeps the fee hike in place but allows the
chauffeurs inside the building, with the new restrictions.

In the lawsuit, filed June 1 in U.S. District Court in Detroit, the
companies said their primary business is at the airport and the new rules
would force them out of business, putting most of their 1,300 collective
employees out of work.

The companies claimed the airport was out to protect its $3-million-a-year
revenue stream with Checker Sedan, which replaced Metro Cars as the
airport's luxury-sedan vendor on July 1. The $10 fee, they added, is well
above the average at other U.S. airports.

Tom Constand, spokesman for chauffeurs' group, said they are pleased with
the settlement. "From the get-go our biggest concern was access to the
terminal with our pre-arranged customers," he said.

 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************