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The airport waives landing fees for a year for new year-round and seasonal flights, but it is minimal compared to what other airports offer, Aviation Director Kip Turner told his board.
“In the world that we are living in today, this is just not enough,” he said.
The discussion around incentives was raised at a time when the number of people boarding planes is down and the airport may be facing a change in leadership. Turner is the only finalist for the top job at Grand Junction Regional Airport.
Under Turner, American Airlines launched a third flight from Durango to Dallas last year and a seasonal flight to Los Angeles that will start this summer. Frontier also ended seasonal service to Durango last year amid other cuts to its service.
While Turner secured the new flight to Los Angeles with just the landing fees waiver, it required three years of meetings, he said. Landing fees are based on the weight of each plane.
Offering incentives to airlines for new flights will likely become more important because a pilot shortage is expected to get worse as many of them reach retirement age, Turner said.
“It’s just going to get tougher and tougher and tougher for the regional airports,” he said.
A community nonprofit could offer marketing dollars to help bring specific flights to town without being required to offer the same incentive to every airline, like the airport must, Turner said.
This organization would work hand in hand with the airport to bring new flights to town. Turner would like to see it come together in the next few months, but it is still in the preliminary discussion stages.
While the board wants to attract new service, the number of travelers leaving the airport declined slightly in the first quarter this year. The number of people boarding a plane was down 2.7 percent to 41,133 people in the first quarter, compared with the 42,259 people who boarded a plane during the first quarter last year.
March saw a decline of 6.9 percent, which was caused by a lower seating capacity on planes, Turner said.
Many of the planes seated 50 people instead of 70. But he expects the larger jets to be back during the summer tourist season.
Turner may not be here to see the larger planes return, but his advisory commissioners said they would hate to see him go to Grand Junction.
“When you arrived here, you brought a professionalism that not only the airport needed but the community,” Commissioner Richard Bechtolt said.
Chairman Steve Parker told him the board is “willing and able to help make a new terminal a reality sooner rather than later.”
Voters may see a bond issue on the ballot this November asking them to raise property taxes to help fund a new $85 million terminal. The full build-out of the terminal would cost $131.5 million, but the later stages could be funded by the airport.
Roger Zalneraitis, the executive director of the La Plata County Economic Development Alliance is putting together a local group to help campaign for the bond issue. The group plans to start with two focus group meetings in Durango and in the county. Zalneraitis was also recently appointed to the airport commission.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
