Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. County of Kent, 510 U.S. 355, 4 (1994)

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358

NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC. v. COUNTY OF KENT

Opinion of the Court

Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.

Seven commercial airlines, petitioners in this case, assert that certain airport user fees charged to them are unreasonable and discriminatory, in violation of the federal Anti-Head Tax Act (AHTA), 49 U. S. C. App. § 1513, and the Commerce Clause. Because the record, as it now stands, does not warrant a judicial determination that the fees in question are unreasonable or unlawfully discriminatory, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

I

A

The user fees contested in this case are charged by the Kent County International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Airport is owned by respondent Kent County and operated by respondents Kent County Board of Aeronautics and Kent County Department of Aeronautics (collectively,

American Trucking Associations, Inc., by Andrew L. Frey, Andrew J. Pincus, Daniel R. Barney, and Robert Digges, Jr.

Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the State of New Hampshire et al. by Jeffrey R. Howard, Attorney General of New Hampshire, and Monica A. Ciolfi, Assistant Attorney General, Grant Woods, Attorney General of Arizona, Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General of California, Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General of Florida, Bonnie J. Campbell, Attorney General of Iowa, Michael E. Carpenter, Attorney General of Maine, Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General of Michigan, Joseph P. Mazurek, Attorney General of Montana, Frederick P. DeVesa, Acting Attorney General of New Jersey, Heidi Heitkamp, Attorney General of North Dakota, Mark Barnett, Attorney General of South Dakota, and James E. Doyle, Attorney General of Wisconsin; for the City of Los Angeles by James K. Hahn, Gary R. Netzer, Breton K. Lobner, Steven S. Rosenthal, and Anthony L. Press; for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association by John S. Yodice; for the Airports Council International-North America by Patricia A. Hahn; for the American Association of Airport Executives by Scott P. Lewis; for the National Business Aircraft Association, Inc., et al. by Raymond J. Rasenberger; and for the U. S. Conference of Mayors et al. by Richard Ruda.

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