Long security lines, waits for luggage and crowded departure lounges could be a thing of the past for local travelers if government officials move forward with building a new terminal for Durango-La Plata County Airport. The price tag? Something like $143 million.
At the same time, Durango’s airport now relies on two airlines to provide year-round service, down from four. And passenger traffic at the airport fell for five consecutive months to close 2013, numbers that hardly point toward the need for a big expansion.
Still, many believe something needs to be done to accommodate growth at the airport, where traffic grew 28 percent in the past five years despite declines in recent months.
“If you have a need, you can’t just do nothing,” said Kip Turner, the airport’s director of aviation.
County Manager Joe Kerby agreed.
“I’m definitely an advocate that improvements need to be made at the airport,” he said.
Government officials from La Plata County and the city of Durango, which jointly own the airport, are waiting for a Denver-based consulting firm to finish a report that is expected to lay out options for renovating or replacing the 1986 terminal building.
The airport, which by far offers the most flights in the Four Corners, is critical to growing local businesses, such as StoneAge Waterblast Tools. It’s also the main airport used by the San Juan Basin’s natural-gas and oil industry.
Waits at the airport are frustrating business travelers.
“I’ve almost missed a flight or two because the security lines are so long,” said Kerry Siggins, StoneAge’s CEO.
Just last week, Siggins waited 45 minutes for her checked luggage after arriving in Durango.
“This is frustrating because when you are done travelling, you want to get home as fast as possible,” Siggins said.
The same airport staff members who handle luggage also works to deplane passengers, creating delays.
Airport equipment approaching 30 years old increasingly needs maintenance.
On Monday, airport worker Richard Hess was trying to keep the luggage belt running as a flight from Phoenix approached. Like much of the airport, the belt dates to 1986.
“I can’t even get parts for it anymore,” he said.
Airlines make changes
Frontier Airlines pulled out of Durango in November, ending winter service to concentrate its flights in the busier summer months. The Denver-based airline plans to resume its Durango-to-Denver route May 16, with flights scheduled through Aug. 10.
Frontier’s flight calendar has some holes, however. For parts of May and June, Frontier will offer no flights on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Turner said Frontier provided only one flight a day, and Durango’s other carriers are beginning to fill in the gaps. He said the decline in traffic in the latter part of the year was the result of lower capacity.
“We need more seats, and we’ll work toward getting more seats,” he said.
Passenger loads – the share of airplane seats that are sold – have been good, he said.
United Express, operated by Republic, is Durango’s most important airline. In 2013, United carried almost half – 48 percent – of Durango passengers.
United has no plans to change its schedule, a spokeswoman said. The airline runs six flights to Denver year-round, adding a seventh flight at peak times in July and August.
“Our service remains the same for Durango,” said United spokeswoman Mary Clark. “No changes of any kind are planned.”
The recent merger of US Airways and American Airlines adds more questions. Local media have reported the merger could affect routes to Dallas-Fort Worth and Charlotte, N.C., which may limit connection options for flights originating in Durango.
Durango airlines offer flights to Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix.
“When you’re planning a new facility, you’re hoping that the trends will continue the way they are, but there’s no guarantee,” said Tom Greenhut, a Durango airport commissioner. “We’ve seen a lot of carriers come and go over the last 20, 25 years.”
Despite ending 2013 on a slide, overall enplanements for the year grew 2.6 percent. It was the least growth in several years, but, Turner argued, Durango came out ahead in the end.
He compared the Durango airport – which goes by the code DRO – to a football team that lost ground in the fourth quarter but still won the game.
“The end result is it was a great game for DRO,” he said.
Should we plan for growth?
Public officials stress that Durango’s airport is critical for the local and regional economy. The airport has gained passengers from around the region as service dropped at Farmington’s Four Corners Regional Airport.
“It’s been a very important facet of the development and the economic well-being of the community in the last two decades,” said Bob Ledger, a retired Durango city manager.
Turner has expressed hope that the majority of the cost for rebuilding the airport terminal would be paid for by federal and state transportation grants, leaving local taxpayers with a smaller share of the tax burden.
If a new terminal is built, it would approximately double the size of the current building. A new terminal would be located opposite from the current facility. Existing runways would continue to be used.
Turner said a new terminal is needed for today’s airport traffic, to say nothing of future growth.
“We need a facility that’s about twice the size of what we have just to accommodate what we’re doing today,” he said.
Turner rejected the notion that a new terminal would rely on the uncertain prospects for future growth.
“I’m not talking about build it, and they will come,” he said. “I’m talking about today.”
Yet passengers don’t always see the need for new projects.
“It works very well,” said Kim Otteson, who often flies to California for her job selling livestock insurance. “We fly in and out a lot, and we have no problem with it.”
Public officials say they’ll know more after Jviation, a Denver-based aviation-consulting firm, finishes its study of Durango’s needs. But the consultants already have shared their initial findings with city councilors, county commissioners and airport commissioners.
Greenhut said the airport is important for Durango’s image. The airport, he said, is “the first and last impression people get when they come into and leave Durango.”
Public officials don’t want Durango’s airport to end up like Farmington’s. Decades ago, officials in the Four Corners’ largest city had the chance to move and expand the airport. They decided not to, and the so-called regional airport shriveled, ceding ground to Durango.
“It’s an interesting time for the airport,” said Greenhut. “Because whatever we do in the short term is going to affect the community for the long term.”
cslothower@durangoherald.com
