Airport Business - 34

LEGAL MATTERS
AUTHOR Allison Squiccimarro

DOES A TENANT HAVE ANY REMEDIES WHEN THE
MINIMUM STANDARDS ARE AMENDED AND

Compliance is Impossible or
Impracticable?
IF YOU are a tenant at a federally obligated airport,
chances are your lease contains a provision that
requires that you comply with the Minimum
Standards as may be promulgated and amended
periodically. Agreeing to a lease that allows the
landlord to unilaterally change the terms that bind
tenants without notice is understandably unnerving.
Helpfully though, at those same
federally obligated airports, the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) provides
both formal and informal remedies for
tenants who find themselves in the
unenviable position of having to comply
when the Airport Sponsor/Landlord
changes the Minimum Standards
mid-lease.
Minimum Standards are rules
adopted by an Airport Sponsor and
imposed upon commercial service
providers at an airport. The Federal
Aviation Administration strongly
recommends that airport sponsors

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ALLISON L. SQUICCIMARRO
Alison L. Squiccimarro is an attorney with
the Law Offices of Paul A. Lange, LLC with
offices in New York and Connecticut.
Alison's nationwide practice focuses on
aviation related commercial litigation
with an emphasis on FAA and DOT Regulatory Issues, Airports, Insurance Coverage
and Employment matters.
Amy L. Corbett, Esq. and Amber Monck,
Paralegal, regularly assist in the Firm's
handing of airport matters and contributed to this article.

develop minimum standards. Minimum
Standards should be tailored to the
circumstances, conditions and the
operating environment of each individual
airport (FAA Order 5190.6B, Chapter
10, Section 10.5). The FAA further
recommends that Airport Sponsors
incorporate the Minimum Standards
into their lease agreements (Advisory
Circular 150/5190 -7, Minimum
Standards for Commercial Aeronautical
Activities at Section 1.1). The Minimum
Standards "must be reasonable and not
unjustly discriminatory." (Id.) Once the
Airport Sponsor establishes minimum
standards, "it should apply them
objectively and uniformly to all similarly
situated on-airport aeronautical service
providers." (Id.)
The FAA cautions that while
Minimum Standards can be amended
periodically over time, a constant
juggling of minimum standards is not
encouraged. (Id. at Section 1.2). The
FAA encourages periodic reviews of
the Minimum Standards and including
aeronautical users in the Airport
Sponsor's process for reviewing and
amending the Minimum Standards.

34 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / APRIL 2020

(Id. at Section 1.2 (e)). When changing
the Minimum Standards, the Airport
Sponsor cannot impose an unreasonable
standard, create a situation that is unjustly
discriminatory, or create an exclusive
right. (Advisory Circular 150/5190-7,
Minimum Standards for Commercial
Aeronautical Activities at Section 1.2(g)
and FAA Order 1590.6B, Chapter 10,
Section 10.3). The FAA "recognizes
that some requirements may need to
be phased in to allow tenants already
operating on the airport time to meet the
new requirements without experiencing
unnecessary financial hardship."(Royal
Air, Inc. v. City of Shreveport through
the Shreveport Airport Authority, FAA
Docket No. 16-02-06 (Director's
Determination, Januar y 9, 2004)
(Director found that Minimum Standards
that dictated placement of fuel storage
tanks did not apply to existing tenants but
applied to new development was not a
violation of the Federal Grant Assurance
obligations).
If the Minimum Standards are
amended in a way that has a disparate
impact on a single tenant, is unjustly
discriminatory or creates an exclusive
right, the affected tenant has remedies
available to protect it, notwithstanding
the fact that it is bound by a lease
term agreeing to be bound by the
Minimum Standards as they may be
updated. An Airport Sponsor cannot
avoid its obligations to abide by the
Federal Grant Assurances by securing an
agreement from a tenant. (See Maximum
United, LLC v. Board of County
Airport Business

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