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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Airport Board - 08/17/2011<C CORPUS CHRISTI REGULAR MEETING MINUTES CORPUS CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BOARD 1000 INTERNATIONAL DRIVE AVIATION BOARD ROOM City of CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS Corpus. AUGUST 17 2011, 3:30 P.M. Christi Don Feferman, Chairman George Richard, Member Adam Nuse, Member BOARD MEMBERS Bill McCord, Vice - chairman Richard Drilling, Member Jeff Kane, Member Fred Segundo, Director of Aviation Adelle Ives, Management Assistant Gary Williams, Facilities Manager Carl Gross, Operations Manager Grace Gonzalez, Major Proj Eng Victor Gonzalez, Operations Supt Jesse Olivares, Member Chad Magill, Member Jay Wise, Member CITY STAFF Enrique H. Castillo, Asst. Director of Aviation Kim Bridger, PR & Mkt. Coordinator Mario Tapia, Finance & Admin Manager John Hyland, Chief of Public Safety Lisa Aguilar, Legal Dept. Norma Ortiz, Admin & Accts Supvr I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Chairman Feferman at 3:32 p.m. A quorum was present. II. Approval of the minutes for the July 20 2011 regular meeting of the Airport Board Chairman Feferman called for the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of the Airport Board on July 20 2011. Board member Kane moved to approve the minutes as read. Board member Richard seconded and the motion carried. Ill. Approval of Board member absences for the July 20 2011, Board meeting Chairman Feferman called for approval of Board member Olivares absence from the July 20 Airport Board meeting. Board member Drilling moved to excuse Board member Olivares. Board member Magill seconded and the motion carried. IV. Public Comment* Chairman Feferman introduced the new interim Homeland Security Federal Security Director, John Sikes, to the Board. Mr. Sikes introduced himself to the membership along . with a brief overview of his directive and experience. V. Presentation and Discussion by Asst. City Attorney, Jay Reining, regarding the re- establishing of the Airport Zoning Board Director Segundo introduced to the membership the City's Assistant City Attorney, Jay Reining, who would be presenting information on the Airport Zoning Board. He began by stating that the City has an Airport Zoning Board, however, they have not met since 1987. The City is currently undertaking a joint -land use study for the Navy with a change of the trainers and regulations with respect to the use of Unmanned Aircraft. He also added that the Airport Zoning Board would be able to regulate the establishment of wind farms in close proximity of the Airport with respect to safety and security. There has been discussion on re- activating the existing Board which consists of representatives from the City of Corpus Christ, Nueces and San Patricio Counties along with other surrounding county airports. He added that the City of Corpus Christi's jurisdiction encompasses Nueces County, San Patricio County, Kleberg County and Aransas County. He felt that other small area airport could be included. Corpus Christi International Airport Board Minutes August 17, 2011 Page 2 of 5 Mr. Reining presented copies of the current state law for the Airport Zoning Board along with current ordinances the Board along with copies of the joint land -use proposals. He felt that the outcome of the joint land -use study would be to activate the Airport Zoning Board in order to deal with all the issues which would affect the Airport by wind farms. Director Segundo informed the Board that in his meetings with Representative Todd Hunter has expressed his desire to hold an Aviation Summit along with a formation of a Technical Committee which would be able to address all the issues of wind farms in close proximity to the Airport. Discussion was heard on this topic by the membership. VI. Presentation and Discussion from Trillion Aviation on their Quarterly Report for the Corpus Christi International Airport Asst. Director, Enrique Castillo, introduced Mike Bown who is now associated with Trillion Aviation and formerly with Sabre Aviation. Mr. Bown began his presentation to the Board by giving them some historical trends and their relation to today's aviation industry. He continued by highlighting today's trends which have been a factor on the increase in fares and fees for airlines. Airports are changing their revenue streams to offset economic downturns. He felt that these trends will continue for some time. He added that legacy airlines have reduced capacities and low -cost carriers are growing steadily. With the shrinking of the airline capacities, the low - cost carriers are growing and outpacing the legacy carriers. He added Airports can no longer bank on airline generated revenue. Airports need to be run by businesses and rely on non - airline revenue growth. He also closed by saying that the carriers that would be leading in growth in the industry would be the low -cost carriers. He added that Airports are going to need to structure all costs and agreements to favor the low -cost carriers. For the 2011, Mr. Bown stated that airline revenues are strong and probably the best in quite some time. In Corpus Christi for 2010, the trend with respect to load factors, traffic, departing seats gained towards the end of the year. With a strong end to 2010, the thought for 2011 would be that this trend would continue. Year -to -date, passenger enplanements are off 6% showing a down - trend. He felt that this would continue for the rest of the year. He also added that Airline revenues were up 13% which shows they are operating at less capacity and generating more revenue. For the Corpus Christi area, he gave a brief overview showing American and Continental load factors high with Southwest coming in at the lowest for the area. He also briefed the Board on recent 0 &D (origin & destination) study showing the top markets for non -stop service as Las Vegas and Dallas (Love Field). He added that with the rapid growth that Allegiant has experienced in Texas, they could serve this area by next year. Mr. Bown gave a long -term forecast with American and Continental will offer similar services as they do today. Southwest will shrink their capacity. He is hopeful that the Airport could have approximately 342,000 enplanements with no large growth with the Corpus Christi International Airport Board Minutes August 17, 2011 Page 3 of 5 exception of the possibility of Alleglant consideration to service this area. He felt that the Airports downturn is over and enplanements will stabilize, however, he recommended that the Airport structure their agreements and ground handling to favor Allegiant's consideration to come to Corpus Christi. John DeCoster with Trillion Aviation interjected that the Airport's lease agreements were structured with Ailegiant's business practices in mind in order to entice them to the Airport. The floor was opened to discussion and questions. VII. Presentation, Discussion and Possible Action on Aviation Business Consultant Services Contract Asst. Director Castillo informed the Board on this item. He began by stating that in early July Statements of Qualifications were solicited for Aviation Business Consultant firms for partnering with Airport to develop the new Airport Business Plan. He added that Vice - chairman Bill McCord, as a member of the Selection Sub - committee, assisted in the researching each of the two consultants who responded to the solicitation. Unison Consulting Group and Trillion Aviation submitted proposals for consideration. He stated that Unison seemed more geared to working with a larger hub airport. Questions were submitted to each consultant and their responses were reviewed by the sub - committee. Based on their responses along with their experience, Vice -chair McCord felt that the best candidate would be Trillion Aviation. He moved to recommend to City Council that Trillion Aviation be considered for the Airport's Aviation Business Consultant Services Contract. Discussion followed. Chairman Feferman called for the question. The motion was seconded and passed by the Board. Vlll. Sub - committee Reports a. Executive None. b. Business Development Vice -chair McCord reported to the Board that Aviation Management Consultant Group was awarded the contract for $49,500 by Council. AMCG has already conducted a two -day facilities sight inspection which included tour of Airport property, the Industrial Park, both FBO facilities and meetings with the CC Regional Development Corporation. They are in the process of completing their appraisal by October 17, 2011. c. Marketing None. d. Government Relations Director Segundo reported in the absence of the Sub- committee chair, Board member Collin. He stated that Airport staff along with Rudy Garza will be participating in the CC to DC event coordinated with the CC Chamber of Commerce. He anticipates meeting with the military, TSA and FAA to bring Airport issues to their attention and Corpus Christi International Airport Board Minutes August 17, 2019 Page 4 of 5 open dialogue towards finding resolutions. He added that he would be reporting back to the Board on this trip. e. Special Projects None. IX. Discussion of Monthly Reports a. Financial Report Mario Tapia, Finance Manager, updated the Board on the financial status of the Airport for July which is the end of the fiscal year. He stated that final numbers would not be available for 4 to 6 weeks as the City completes year end reports and journal entries. He continued by reporting that the Airport is down 1.6% in emplanements and for the year at 4.5 %. The Parking Lot revenues are at 1.17% for the year which was even for the same time last. He reported that there is $620,685 in revenues over expenditures in his preliminary report. He explained variances which impacted the Airport's financials from restructured agricultural leases, lower TSA check point fees and unanticipated badging expenses. He continued by reporting that other revenue was impacted with the Airport holding a Fire Training program on property. He added that nothing has changed with respect to expenditures. Some transfers were needed to cover unanticipated fees such as the FBO Legal fees which amounted to $110,000. b. Parking Revenue Report Reported above. c. General Activity Report (GAR) Reported above. X. Discussion of Director's Report a. Construction Status Report Grace Gonzalez, Major Projects Engineer, reported that the FIS project will be closed out soon with the ribbon cutting to be held tomorrow morning. She reported that the QTA is 113 complete with the foundation almost finished and the project will be going vertical within the next couple of weeks. Fed Ex has applied for applied for a temporary CFO and should be obtaining that within the next few days. Director Segundo reported that the Airport has received $2.5 million in grant offers from the FAA for completing the FIS change orders and to conduct a Wildlife Management Plan. XI. Identify items to be placed on next Airport Board Agenda Chairman Feferman asked that an item be placed on the September agenda regarding the reactivation of the Airport Zoning Board. Corpus Christi International Airport Board Minutes August 17, 2011 Page 5 of 5 XII. Adjournment As there was no other business, Chairman Feferman called for a motion to adjourn. Board member Drilling moved to adjourn. Board member Richard seconded and the meeting adjourned at 4:48 p.m.