Charlotte City Council has lost the six weeks it voted to give itself to review the airport's proposed airline lease. No member moved Monday, Oct. 19, to override Mayor Rob Harrington's veto of that review. Harrington said he intends to set the decision on the lease for Nov. 9, two weeks before the date council had picked.
The lease would govern how American Airlines and the other carriers use Charlotte Douglas International Airport from Jan. 1, 2027, through June 30, 2037. An airline that signs it approves $1.72 billion of a $2.12 billion list of airport construction projects. The full proposed agreement is on our documents page.
A council majority voted Oct. 12 to take until its Nov. 23 business meeting to decide. Harrington vetoed the review immediately after council passed it.
Under the city charter, a motion the mayor vetoes returns automatically at council's next meeting and takes effect only if at least seven of the 11 members vote to readopt it. The six who voted yes Oct. 12 were one short of the seven an override needs.
Harrington opened Monday's 4 p.m. special session by saying he maintained his position on the veto, then asked for a motion to readopt the review, "in essence, a motion to override the mayor's veto." None came. Harrington declared that the item "has been heard, duly considered, and the veto stands." City Attorney Andrea Leslie-Fite and the clerk confirmed it. The meeting lasted about six minutes.
Council Member Victoria Watlington, who voted for the review Oct. 12, asked Harrington to read the motion because, she said, she was not clear "whether or not we were voting on the very same motion." She then asked whether, with no motion made, he would go ahead with Nov. 9. He said yes.
The Oct. 12 vote was 6-5. Council Member Dimple Ajmera made the motion and Council Member JD Mazuera Arias seconded it. Council Members Reneé Johnson, Joi Mayo and Kimberly Owens joined Ajmera, Mazuera Arias and Watlington in voting yes. Mayor Pro Tem James Mitchell Jr. and Council Members Danté Anderson, Ed Driggs, Malcolm Graham and LaWana Mayfield voted no.
Under the lease, a carrier that signs by Dec. 31 gets a one-time payment: its share of 40% of any terminal revenue left over in fiscal 2026 after operating costs, debt payments and certain other charges. One that signs later does not. Nov. 9, like the vetoed Nov. 23 date, falls before that deadline.