Moore seeks redo of procurement for BWI airport concessionaire

Undoing a controversial procurement saga from last year, Gov. Wes Moore directed the Maryland Aviation Administration on Tuesday to start over its solicitation process to find a company to manage concessions at BWI Marshall Airport.

The aviation department will also ask the state’s Board of Public Works to renew a contract with BWI’s current concessionaire, Fraport, on a month-to-month basis after the current contract expires at the end of March, according to the release. Fraport has held the lucrative contract since 2004.

“We applaud Governor Moore on his decision to conduct a new procurement for retail and concessions services at BWI Marshall Airport,” Fraport USA CEO Michael R. Mullaney said in a statement. “We look forward to participating in a fair, competitive and robust procurement process that aligns with the Moore administration’s priorities.”

Last November, the MAA chose Landover-based New Market Development to head the airport’s concessions operations. The new firm is headed by Major F. Riddick Jr., a lobbyist who was chief of staff to former Gov. Parris Glendening. The aviation department’s choice of New Market did not make it to the BPW for final approval before Moore took office in January.

The Hogan administration’s choice of a politically connected company close to a change in office turned heads last year. Supporters of the change noted that New Market is a local and minority-owned business, while detractors said the decision should be left to the Moore administration.

Mullaney noted that under Fraport’s management, minority- and women-owned concession businesses at BWI have generated over $466 million over the past 10 years, representing over 40% of the total at the airport.

Fraport sued the MAA in December over the agency’s decision to select New Market in Anne Arundel Circuit Court. The parties agreed to drop the suit Wednesday in light of Moore’s announcement, according to a court filing.

In the lawsuit, Fraport claimed that the contract was awarded to New Market because the Landover company “may have used its political connections to ‘tip the scale’ in its favor.” A court filing alleges Riddick, whose other company financially advised the state on bonds for the Maryland Department of Transportation, used nonpublic information obtained from the state to support New Market’s bid for the concessionaire contract.

“Even just the appearance of impropriety here justifies the Court’s intervention,” Fraport’s attorney, Michael J. Schrier, wrote in the court filing.

Riddick did not return a request to comment.

In a statement, Moore said his administration “is committed to carefully crafting a new solicitation and a procurement process that encourages robust competition, fairness, and provisions that align with our administration’s values and short-term and long-term economic strategies.”

The concessionaire manages the Anne Arundel County airport’s retail and food operations as well as amenities, and develops and designs retail spaces within the airport. The airport is undergoing the largest terminal improvement project in BWI history, a $450 million expansion of the A/B concourse that will add 42,000 square feet of concession space, according to the release.