Uber and Lyft state they won’t modify their service at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport until Arizona’s highest court rules on proposed fee increases that resulted in threats to stop picking up and dropping off customers at one of the country’s largest airports.
Both companies issued statements last week confirming operations will continue while they wait for the Arizona Supreme Court to rule. The court on March 26 will look into arguments to a challenge of a city ordinance that raised the companies’ fees by $4 for rides to and from the airport.
Uber and Lyft had threatened to stop providing airport services if the fees took effect Saturday as it was planned
The Phoenix City Council authorized the fees, and said that they were a lot like rent and landing fees charged to restaurants and airlines at Sky Harbor, which serves some 44 million passengers annually. It later decided to hold off until the high court weighed in.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has sought to overturn the ordinance, arguing it is probably not constitutional and probably breached a 2018 ballot measure prohibiting higher taxes on services.
The state could lose its share of state revenue — a third of its general fund budget — if the fee increase is found to be illegal.
