CopyPublished | United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida. | 1986 Bankr. LEXIS 6402
...tions and the baggage claim area with the other air carriers operating into the airport. Prior to the filing of its petition, the Debtor had failed to make payments to Lee County as required by the Airport Use Agreement, and Lee County, relying upon § 329.40, Florida Statutes, seized a Piper Chieftain aircraft with registration number N35892....
...As of the filing date, the Debtor owed Lee County $3,358.55 for certain exclusive space, $2,068.07 for baggage claim, and $2,522.66 for landing fees for actual aircraft landings at the airport. The issue presented here for decision is to what extent § 329.40, Florida Statutes, provides a lien on the seized aircraft to secure these obligations. Section 329.40 reads as follows: 329.40 Airport facilities; lien for landing and other fees.— (1) The governing body of any publicly owned and operated airport shall have a lien upon all aircraft landing upon any airport owned and operated by it for all charges for landing fees an...
...inst any one aircraft is for unpaid charges incurred by all of the aircraft operated into the airport, that reading is inconsistent with the first sentence *638 and with subsection (2). Further, if Lee County’s position is correct that the lien of § 329.40 has priority over an earlier perfected security interest in the aircraft (a conclusion which the Court doubts it would reach, which is not necessary for a decision here), then a secured creditor could find its perfected lien on an aircraft...
...vor of other secured creditors. Read together, the Court concludes that the lien against an aircraft is for charges incurred only by that aircraft. The Debtor’s position that the lien covers only landing fees is not consistent with the language in § 329.40(1) which speaks of “landing fees and other fees and charges for the use of the facilities of such airport” (emphasis added)....
...d as Lee County urges. That, however, is not the way the statute reads. If the Legislature does intend the result which Lee County urges, it should revise the statute to make its intent clear and explicit. 3 In accordance with this interpretation of § 329.40, Florida Statutes, it is ORDERED that the motion of Lee County for relief from the automatic stay is granted; that the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. § 362 (a) is hereby modified to permit Lee County to enforce its rights under § 329.40, Florida Statutes, with respect to the Piper Chieftain aircraft with registration number N35892 but only if the obligation of $713.13 secured by the lien on the aircraft is not paid within fifteen days of the date of this Order; and that the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C....
...That proportion of the total for the exclusive space and the baggage claim, ($3,358.55 plus $2,068.07 equals $5,426.62) is $493.33. Adding that figure to the landing fees of $219.80 results in a total sum of $713.13. . If the Legislature does revise § 329.40(1), it should also consider revising subsection (2)....
