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Uber announces last day of transport to/from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

Posted at 10:48 AM, Jan 22, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-22 16:45:50-05

Uber says it will cease operations to and from Sky Harbor International Airport starting at 11:59 p.m. on January 31, 2020 unless the city's rideshare fee increase is repealed or prevented from taking effect, according to a letter obtained by ABC15.

In a letter written to the City of Phoenix's Director of the Aviation Department, Uber's Global Airport Partnerships Manager stated, "Please accept this letter as official notice from Uber Technologies Inc. that, in the event the Airport or City does not place a hold on the implementation of the proposed TNC fee increase, or a legal stay is not granted, we will be ceasing all operations at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport effective 11:59pm on Friday, January 31st, 2020."

Uber's decision to pull out of Sky Harbor follows a fee increase approved by the Phoenix City Council in October 2019.

The $4 increase would raise the amount riders pay to get picked up from the airport and add an entirely new drop-off fee.

Before the measure passed, the airport charged customers $2.66 to pick-up a rideshare car from the airport and no fee for drop-off.

In December 2019, Uber sent a letter to Valley drivers announcing the drivers would no longer have the option to be able pick-up or drop-off passengers at Sky Harbor.

""We are writing to let you know that Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) recently imposed a new airport rideshare fee of $4 per trip," Uber wrote in a the email. "This fee unfairly penalizes those who rely on ridesharing at PHX by asking them to bear a disproportionate share of costs associated with the Sky Train. On behalf of the drivers and riders who rely on Uber, we cannot accept a partnership that unfairly burdens our shared passengers. As a result, we have made the decision to cease operations at the airport."

The city said the increase was long overdue after Sky Harbor made the decision to cut the fee in recent years. This new fee puts Sky Harbor among the priciest rideshare airports in the country.