Double Eagle dispute hits court

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - An Albuquerque aviation company claims its safety concerns and resistance to political demands have the city trying to force it out of Double Eagle II Airport.

In its lawsuit Bode Aviation has accused the city of conspiring to undermine its business as the fixed-base operator at city-owned airport on the northwest mesa.

Bode claims the city is refusing to recognize a long-term lease agreement at the airport.

The city is retaliating because Bode raised concerns about safety and expenditure of public funds at the airport and declined to provide “free or discounted air service” to Mayor Martin Chávez during his 2007 campaign for U.S. Senate, according to the suit.

“Their allegations are bogus at best,” Ed Adams, the city's chief administrative officer, told KRQE News 13 Tuesday.

Adams and Chávez are named as defendants in the lawsuit along with two city officials referred to only as “John Doe” and “James Doe”.

A spokesperson for the mayor called the allegations “absolutely outrageous and untrue.” Adams linked the charges to the ongoing contract dispute over Bode's operation at Double Eagle.

“They're trying to bully us into signing an agreement they know is not fair and equitable over a 20-year period," Adams said.

Bode Aviation said the city agreed to a long-term lease extension in January 2008 after the aviation company agreed to a 400 percent increase raising the $6,000 annual rent payments to $24,000.

The agreement comes with a fixed lease payment over a period of 20 years, according to city officials.

“Twenty years from now they want to pay 20-year-old rent,” Adams said. “We’re not going to have that.”

John Bode told News 13 attempts to reach an agreement with the city have failed.

“The company has done everything possible to avoid giving the city a black eye,” Bode said.

A district court judge ordered the city to recognize the proposed lease extension with Bode Aviation.

City officials have appealed that decision saying they want to put the contract out to bid in the best interest of taxpayers.