The
bulk of a $1.4-billion terminal project at Newark International
Airport is done, but a dispute over related payments is heating
up. Continental Airlines filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District
Court in Newark against J.A. Jones Construction Group LLC
on March 6, two days after the contractor resigned from its
role as construction manager for the airline's Global Gateway
project at Newark Airport. J.A. Jones had been the CM since
1999.
In a statement, Continental says
it is "seeking the immediate return of...construction
records, checks to trade contractors, documents and other
data that J.A. Jones Construction removed." Continental
claims that J.A. Jones "surreptitiously removed the documents,
and is holding Continental's records ‘hostage' in exchange
for immediate payment of additional disputed invoices."
The airline is also seeking damages for "wrongful termination
and abandonment."
Steve Luquire, a spokesman for
Charlotte-based J.A. Jones, says "the point at issue
is several million dollars owed and unpaid to J.A. Jones for
cost and fees incurred." Luquire says airline executives
promised J.A. Jones executives to make an interim payment
on Feb. 28 but did not do so. J.A. Jones gave written notice
on March 4 to Continental that it would stop work pending
payment. In its statement, Continental says it "plans
to resolve the payment issues in dispute upon completion of
an audit of J.A. Jones Construction's records." Both
parties have since been put under a gag order.
AMEC Construction, Toronto, has
been hired to take on the CM role. The centerpiece of the
airline's $1.4-billion job, a 325,000-sq-ft concourse, opened
in December. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey,
which owns Newark Airport, had no comment on the case. The
agency is building $2.4 billion worth of new parking, cargo,
maintenance and hangar facilities and expanded access roadways
as its part of the Global Gateway program.
The lawsuit comes as Continental
attempts to recover from the loss of revenue since Sept. 11.
In its SEC statement, Continental indicated "a consolidated
net loss of $95 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2001."
While current cash flow "remains negative at approximately
$2 million per day," the filing also indicated that Continental
"currently anticipate[s] being profitable in March of
2002."
