The Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, which backed a $5 million bank loan to an airline that soon after went under, has negotiated a settlement with the bank and its former law firm.
The airport spent $3.5 million in state funds intended for capital improvements to pay off a loan between TowneBank and People Express Airlines instead. The bank and law firm Jones, Blechman, Woltz & Kelly agreed to give the airport $2 million in cash and interest rate discounts Thursday.
The settlement follows a state audit, the firing of the airport’s executive director and multiple resignations on the Peninsula Airport Commission’s board.
A “reasonable settlement” was one of several items Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne required before the airport could begin receiving state funds for capital improvements again.
