The panel addressed a series of topics critical to airport operations, trends in transportation, and local legislative issues that will be addressed during the final months of this year’s legislative session.
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Customers who rent vehicles in Pennsylvania are best served by marketplace parity and common-sense rules that treat all service providers the same, including the growing array of so-called peer-to-peer (P2P) rental companies.
That was the key message delivered by Enterprise Holdings during a recent invitation-only panel discussion hosted by the Aviation Council of Pennsylvania (ACP). The ACP is a nonprofit trade association comprised of airports, fixed-base operators, flight schools, business aircraft operators, aerospace manufacturers and suppliers, air charter operators, and other aviation organizations and suppliers all working together to improve and promote the aviation industry throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The panel discussion — called “Current Ground Transportation Issues: TNCs, Taxis, and Turo, Oh My!” — was part of the 39th Annual Pennsylvania Aviation Conference in Pittsburgh. The panel addressed a series of topics critical to airport operations, trends in transportation, and local legislative issues that will be addressed during the final months of this year’s legislative session.
The panel included representatives from Pittsburgh International Airport and aviation policy experts from the firm Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell, as well as Enterprise Holdings. A significant portion of the discussion focused on p2p car rental companies’ claims that they should not be subject to the same safety and recall standards as existing car rental companies and that p2p car rental customers should not be subject to the same fees as other car rental customers.
Enterprise Holdings also stressed that it supports Senate Bill 904, a pro-consumer piece of legislation recently introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly and referred to the Senate Consumer Protection Committee. The bill is meant to ensure that whenever and however cars and trucks are rented to the public, all safety requirements are met, proper insurance is provided, and proper taxes are paid.
Enterprise Holdings anticipates that Senate Bill 904 not only will receive bipartisan support in Pennsylvania, but also will facilitate a public debate about how consumer transparency and fair competition benefit all airports and the travel industry across the state.
In total, at least 19 U.S. airports have issued cease-and-desist orders concerning peer-to-peer operations. Plus, legal action has been taken in conjunction with several airports across the country, including Tampa International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Massport (Logan International Airport), and San Francisco International Airport.
“This effort is all about parity and fairness, in Pennsylvania and every other state. It just doesn’t make sense for one section of this industry to benefit from loopholes and special carve-outs,” Ray Wagner, Enterprise Holdings’ senior vice president of government and public affairs, said in a statement. “Enterprise welcomes each and every competitor into the industry because, at the end of the day, we’re all in the business of renting vehicles — whether it’s for an hour, a day, a week or longer.”