Grand Canyon air tour firm protests lawsuit

Thursday, July 24, 1997 | 9:11 a.m.

But some fliers are refusing to pay the park service a $25 to $50 charge per flight, saying the skies are free and tours like theirs are far less intrusive than the millions of sightseers who every year tromp about the canyon.

The clash is the latest in a decade-long war between the government and the aircraft, and it has wound up in court.

"Air tourists aren't in the park. They don't use any of the park's services, don't erode the trails, don't use the restrooms," said Dan Lawler, an attorney for Air Grand Canyon Inc., one of four companies the Interior Department claims owe a combined $1.19 million in overdue fees.

"They're just flying over a natural wonder, created by natural forces, that predates the National Park Service," he said Wednesday.

Environmentalists charge the drone of planes and thump of copter blades shatter the serenity for hikers, rafters and others among the 5 million people who visit the canyon every year.

Each year about 100,000 tour flights by fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters carry about 800,000 sightseers over the park.

Air companies deny causing any disturbance, and argue that the National Park Service has no authority to collect the fees of $25 for each flight and $50 if the aircraft has more than 25 people aboard. They say only the Federal Aviation Administration has jurisdiction over the canyon's air space.

The fees, established by Congress in 1993 for the canyon and other national parks, have brought in millions of dollars.

But some of the two-dozen-odd carriers who service the canyon are asking the government to refund millions of dollars already paid in fees, which defray park operational and maintenance costs. Still others have refused to pay at all.

The U.S. attorney's office for Arizona turned up the pressure Tuesday, filing a lawsuit seeking to ground Air Grand Canyon until it pays $221,000 owed in flight fees since 1995.

Lawler said Tusayan-based Air Grand Canyon paid $130,000 in flight fees until its lawyers deemed the park fees law illegal and advised it to stop paying.

He said the carrier has been unfairly singled out. Air Nevada, which services the canyon out of Las Vegas, allegedly owes $740,000 in unpaid fees and hasn't been sued, he said. The other companies targeted for unpaid fees are Kenai Helicopters ($211,000) and Windrock Aviation ($27,000).

Officials with the other three companies declined to comment Wednesday.