Failed Airline Leaves Debt Behind

City leaders want to put a bad business deal behind them, but the idea of paying a failed airline's debt has some taxpayers up in arms. The News On 6's Ashli Sims reports Great Plains has become a great pain for Tulsa taxpayers.

This was the Great Plains promise:

"Tulsa will be one of the first cities in the central part of the United States to have direct air service to the east and west coasts," said Great Plains Airlines Attorney David Johnson in 2000.

Four years later, Great Plains Airlines announced the suspension of scheduled passenger service.

"Great Plains was a bad deal that never should have been done in the first place," said Tulsa City Councilor Bill Martinson.

When the airline filed for bankruptcy, some city councilors claimed they were concerned from the beginning.

"I support public-private partnerships, but I support the 50-50 partnerships, and I just didn't feel we had that at the time with Great Plains and I was concerned," said Former Tulsa City Councilor Randi Miller in 2004.

Despite that concern, the council seated in 2000, prompted by then-mayor Susan Savage, decided to back the fledgling airline. They put up public property as collateral for a multi-million dollar loan to keep Great Plains flying.

It's that collateral that's still giving Tulsa great pains. The airline's been grounded for years, but the city has been embroiled in a lawsuit over the debt they left behind.

Former Mayor Bill Lafortune tried to push through a settlement with the Bank of Oklahoma, but failed. Mayor Kathy Taylor, who once served on BOK's board of directors, picked up where he left off and got the city council to reluctantly sign off on the deal.

Now the airline's debt is the taxpayers debt, paid for by a three-year increase in property taxes.

There are many questions still swirling around the Great Plains debacle. Some say, even with the settlement, this may not be over. That's because some say the deal was illegal to begin with and the airport trust is still trying to go after the attorney who originally advised the board that it was.

Related Story:

06/26/2008 - Council Votes To Pay Great Plains Debt