Growing transportation option parked in long legal battle with DFW Airport
NORTH TEXAS - Christmas travelers arriving at DFW Airport this week can complete the trip to Grandma's house with a ride-share company or rental car, but they still can't easily use a car-sharing company which remains locked in a two-year-long legal battle with the airport.
The airport's lawsuit against Turo will resume with a hearing in Fort Worth on Thursday morning, with the two sides still at odds over the best way for the company to be permitted to operate at the country's second-busiest airport.
Congressional members have weighed in this week, urging both sides to come to an agreement in the case, for the benefit of the airport and travelers.
"As North Texas largest airport, it is crucial that consumers are provided a range of transportation options, enhancing affordability, convenience, and overall traveler experience," Rep. Roger Williams wrote to airport CEO Sean Donahue, in a letter provided by Turo.
Turo allows customers to borrow a car from an independent owner, for a fee, much like Airbnb does for homes or rooms. Drivers can go online or use an app to find the car they want, pay and arrange for where to pick the car up.
At more than 100 airports across the country, including Dallas Love Field, Turo has come to permitting agreements. At Love, the agreement includes rules for where owners can leave cars, for how long, how to handle parking fees, and Turo pays a 10-percent fee to the airport.
In legal filings though DFW Airport argues Turo and similar companies are essentially, rental car companies, and that they should "operate in harmony" and "be consistent" with the rental companies it's competing against.
In addition to a percentage of revenue, DFW wants Turo to pay fees of $6.50 per day, which covers the cost of facilities and rental car shuttles.
Turo argues that doesn't make sense, because it doesn't use infrastructure at the airport in the same way. It also doesn't see itself as a rental company, but as a software platform that allows car owners to operate.
"There's no rental car counter," said Catherine Mejia, a spokeswoman for Turo. "We don't have employees on the ground. It's all done through the app."
The Turo app showed Wednesday that hundreds of cars are still advertised as being available at the airport, despite the lack of a permit. Mejia said the company had informed operators of the ongoing litigation, and that they may be fined by the airport, saying many car owners arrange to meet customers off airport property somewhere.
The Dallas Morning News reported last year the airport was towing some of the cars it found parked on its property. In a legislative hearing in March, a former airport executive testified they found some cars parked in an airport employee garage. The hearing was on a proposed bill that would create a mechanism to collect taxes from car-sharing operators.
The airport declined to comment Wednesday due to the litigation.
Mejia said the company was still hopeful it would be able to work out an agreement with DFW similar to other airports.
"Because at the end of the day, we just want to be able to operate but not have our hosts, our guests be subject to the same exact fees as rental cars because it is not the same infrastructure that is being taken up."