Airport Access Fee Looms for NY, NJ Operators

LANJ President Jason Sharenow, left, updated members on a potential airport access fee, pictured along with LANJ guest speaker, George Jacobs, owner, Chicago-based Windy City Limousine.

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J.— Fresh on the heels of victories regulating TNCs and repealing the 7% sales tax on limousine company services, another fight is looming for New Jersey operators over a potential new $4 airport access fee gaining traction.

“It’s coming,” warned Jason Sharenow (Broadway Elite, East Hanover), president of the Limousine Association of New Jersey (LANJ), during its quarterly meeting March 29. He told members conversations with the New Jersey/New York Port Authority hinted an access fee for all private transportation companies dropping off and picking up passengers at regional airports — Newark Liberty, LaGuardia, and JFK — is being discussed.

Noting such revenue-generating airport fees are already in place at many major airports nationwide (generally averaging $2 - $4), Sharenow told the more than 100 members gathered at Englewood Cliffs Cadillac, the host of the lunch meeting, any new airport fee is still in the exploratory stage and may be one to two years away.

This is not the first time the authority has floated a for-hire airport access fee. Regional news reports have reported on the possibility, especially following the influx of TNC vehicles working the airports

Sharenow added a new fee may be inevitable, but noted LANJ would fight to make sure it would apply to all private transportation companies, including the TNCs.

Regarding the repeal of the 7% percent sales tax, the association’s lobbying and operator pressure resonated with legislators, Sharenow said. “They felt your pain and they realized it was unfair, so the last time you’ll have to pay the tax is April 31,” he told members who applauded the LANJ victory.