County battles ‘charter’ air carrier over private vs. public terminal use

January 11, 2024 at 2:23 a.m.

JSX, one of the brand names Delux flies under. Jets with the JSX logo take off and land daily from HPN and use the Atlantic Aviation (Fixed Base Operator) facility. (Courtesy photo of JSX)

Westchester County and Delux Air Charter are engaged in what for Delux is an existential battle for their very survival as a business operating out of Westchester County Airport (HPN) and for the County a “do or die” legal struggle to maintain control of commercial airline activity at HPN through its Terminal Use Procedures (TUP).

Both Delux and the County have filed motions for Summary Judgment asking Federal District Court Judge Philip M. Halpern to rule favorably for their side.

Delux operates scheduled flights (under brand names like JSX), with tickets sold on the internet, out of the Fixed Based Operator (FBO) side of the County Airport which allows customers to park their cars outside the terminals they use and speed right on to board a luxury jet flight. Avoiding the TSA lines and the “annoyance” of checking in through the main commercial terminal is their big selling point.

The County contends that Delux is operating a regular airline that under the TUP should be using the main terminal and thus be subject to gate availability and the limits on how many passengers per half hour can use the main terminal.

Delux has “lawyered up” by hiring the Rye based firm of Dorf Nelson & Zauderer, LLP with its lead counsel on the case the former County Legislator, Rye Town Attorney, and First Deputy Westchester County District Attorney Paul Noto.

Westchester County Attorney John Nonna and his team represent County government.

Complicating matters, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in late August 2023 through the Federal Register announced its intention to “initiate a rulemaking to address the exceptions from FAA’s domestic, flag, and supplemental operations regulations for public charter operators.” The proposed changes “may require affected operators to adjust their service models.” Those changes, again being fought by Delux and other operators, could have national implications for their current business models, while the Delux-County lawsuit is strictly an HPN affair.

Asked how long this could drag through the courts, Nonna wrote the Westmore News that “I don’t know how long it will take Judge Halpern to decide. It could take up to two years after a decision in the Federal District Court for the case to be heard and decided by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.”

In the meantime, the County government must contend with two competing local pressure groups: those who are determined to keep HPN from expanding, and those who use the main HPN terminal and find it overcrowded, outdated, and uncomfortable. That’s not to mention the commercial airlines who service it who are prevented by the TUP from adding flights.

Something has to give, and the ultimate fate of the parties involved may be a combination of FAA regulation, Federal court decisions, and local political activism.