Uber threatens to leave Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport over proposed fee increase

Uber says it has sent a letter to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport's director of aviation, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and the Phoenix City Council saying that it will leave the airport in January if a proposal to raise ride-share fees to $4 per trip is approved.

The move follows fellow ride-share company Lyft's threat to leave if the fee is increased and comes just days before the Phoenix City Council is set to vote a second time on the measure at its Dec. 18 meeting.

As of 5 p.m. Friday afternoon, airport staff said they had received the letter and were reviewing it. The mayor's office said it had not yet seen the letter.

During its Oct. 16 meeting, the council voted 7 to 2 to raise fees paid by ride-share companies. The current fee is $2.66 for passengers being picked up. Starting Jan. 1, that would increase to $4 and be applied to drop-offs as well as pick-ups.

However, because of a clerical error in posting the proposed increase for the amount of time required under Arizona law, the city had to void the vote, repost the proposal on its website and schedule a new vote for its Dec. 18 meeting.

In its letter, Uber said that 18% of its business to and from Sky Harbor comes from low-income communities. And it accused the airport of making ride-share users pay for the cost of operating the PHX Sky Train and other infrastructure.

"I am writing to you to once again reiterate our willingness to work with you and your staff to identify a better solution that does not unfairly target those who rely on ridesharing," Chris Garcia, global airport partnerships manager for Uber, wrote.

"If the Phoenix City Council approves the ground transportation fee structure currently recommended by PHX, Uber will be forced to cease operations at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport effective January 2020."

Why the airport wants the increase

The proposed increase was a result of the airport's yearlong process to reevaluate fees charged to ground transportation services.

A committee met with stakeholders in the industry and compared Sky Harbor's fees to those at other airports. It found that many airports were charging for both pick-ups and drop-offs as well as recouping more of their infrastructure costs.

So the committee proposed increasing the fee to $4 and applying it to all airport ride-share trips.

The fee would increase to $4.25 in 2021, $4.50 in 2022, $4.75 in 2023 and $5 in 2024.

In exchange, the airport agreed to increase the amount of curb space dedicated to ride-share services, install new signs and improve the WiFi so passengers can better track their rides. 

Riders who are dropped off or picked up at the 44th Street Sky Train station instead of the terminals would pay $2.80 each way.

You can connect with Arizona Republic Consumer Travel Reporter Melissa Yeager at melissa.yeager@azcentral.com. You can also follow her on Twitter and Instagram. 

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