Employment offers for the approximately 76 aviation employees transitioning to work under public-private partner SkyCity have yet to be finalized and negotiations are ongoing. Virgin Islands Port Authority Executive Director Carlton Dowe said during a Senate Economic Development and Agriculture Committee meeting on Wednesday that the offers are expected to be finished before the end of the year.
The Port Authority selected VIports Partners to redevelop the territory’s airports during a board meeting in March. The consortium includes contractor and equity partner Aecon, local contractor J. Benton Construction, equity partner Tikehau Star Infra and airport operator Avports. The partners formed a special-purpose company with VIPA called SkyCity to design, develop and handle long-term maintenance and operations at Cyril E. King and Henry E. Rohlsen airports.
Dowe stressed that the airports are not being privatized.
“VIPA will remain the owner of both airports and will continue to receive all federal grants from the Federal Aviation Administration,” he said.
The arrangement has stoked anxiety for territory aviation workers, who will be unable to enroll with the Government Employees Retirement System because SkyCity is a private firm. Under federal law, individuals cannot work for a private entity while contributing to a government pension system. Dowe said Wednesday that VIPA and SkyCity held meetings and workshops with aviation employees in June, July and August and hired an independent consultant to answer employees’ questions about the transition.
Sen. Diane Capehart opened questioning by asking if employees seemed satisfied with VIPA’s outreach efforts.
“I can’t tell you what would satisfy them — what the Port Authority can say is that all employees that’s on the aviation side will receive an offer from SkyCity,” Dowe said, adding that the parties are collaborating to make sure VIPA is comfortable with SkyCity’s offer. “That’s what we could assure, but we’re dealing with the human element. So as the human element go, some will be satisfied, some will not — I mean that’s just a natural part of life.”
Dowe said SkyCity’s offers have to match or exceed the employees’ current salaries.
Lawmakers later turned to the Cyril E. King Airport runway, which has experienced numerous shutdowns in recent months because of potholes. Dowe said during prepared testimony that the CEKA runway, built in 1990, had a 10 to 15-year life span.
“We have long exceeded the life span of the runway, and as a result we are experiencing regular runway failures,” he said, leading to emergency repairs, flight diversions and delays. VIPA is preparing to put a runway rehabilitation project out to bid, pending funding approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.
VIPA Engineering Director Preston Beyer said the plan is to mill and overlay the entire runway surface, removing the top two inches and adding three inches of fresh asphalt. Beyer said the project is expected to go out to bid in the next couple of months, and work will be conducted during overnight closures.
The project originally went out to bid earlier this year but stalled after the FAA told the Port Authority that funds weren’t available.
In response to follow-up questions from Senate Vice President Marvin Blyden, Beyer said the FAA was unable to allocate the federal grant funds in part because the agency is operating under a continuing resolution. Beyer noted that VIPA did receive a portion of its 2024 funding. Coupled with the Port Authority’s expected 2025 entitlements — funding based on the volume of passengers — Beyer said the project should be able to begin this summer.
