Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The nation’s airlines and airports hosted several influential lawmakers at a Hawaii conference this week, an event criticized Thursday by a watchdog group.
Scott Harshbarger, president of Common Cause, said the conference, held at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii, offered the airline industry a chance to hobnob with key lawmakers.
"We challenge the industry to tell us who is representing the public interest," Harshbarger said.
The Aviation Issues Conference was organized by the American Association of Airport Executives. The 40 co-sponsors included the Air Transport Association, the trade group for the major airlines.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., who serve as co-chairs for the congressional subcommittees that write transportation spending bills, were among the lawmakers attending.
Murray spokesman Todd Webster said the conference gave the senator an opportunity to meet with airport executives carrying out parts of the new airline security law.
The airports’ chief lobbyist, Todd Hauptli, said the annual Hawaii conference began 16 years ago.
"It is an opportunity for the entire aviation industry to get together and talk about what’s going on," said Hauptli, senior vice president for legislative affairs for the American Association of Airport Executives and the Airports Council International-North America.
Council spokesman Michael Wascom said: "A diverse group of co-sponsors from across the aviation spectrum committed their participation in this annual conference — which is hosted by an airport organization, not by the airlines — long before the tragic events of Sept. 11."
Congress approved a $15 billion package of grants and loan guarantees for the industry following the terrorist attacks, and airlines last month tried to postpone a Jan. 18 deadline for all checked bags to be screened for explosives.
Since Jan. 1, 1999, the airline industry has contributed $8.4 million to federal candidates and the political parties.
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