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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Airport Board - 05/21/2008 € CIAL-CALLED MEETING NIINU, a CORPUS CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BO ECEIVED 1000 INTERNATIONAL DRIVE AVIATION BOARD ROOM FEB ?�fU CORPUS CHRISTI,TEXAS INTERNATIONAL L MAY 21 2008,3:30 P.M. INTERNATIONAL ' CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE AIRPORT BOARD MEMBERS Jerry Kane, Chairman Don Feferman,Member Frank"Rocco"Montesano, Vice-Chair William Dodge,Member J.C.Ayala,Member Jesse Olivares,Member Glenn E.Lyons,Member Jay Wise,Member Sylvia Whitmore,Member Sam Susser, Member Ed Hicks, Sr., Advisory Member AIRPORT STAFF Fred Segundo,Director of Aviation Enrique Castillo,Asst. Director of Aviation Adelle Ives,Management Assistant Diana Boatright,Management Assistant Roy Rodriguez,Facilities Manager Mario Tapia,Finance&Admin Manager Carl Gross,Operations Manager John Hyland, Chief of Public Safety Amy Gazin,PR&Mkt. Coord. Gary Williams,Aviation Maint.Manager I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chair Montesano at 3:34 p.m. A quorum was present. H. Approval of the minutes for the April 16th, 2008, special-called meeting of the Airport Board Vice-Chair Montesano called for approval of the minutes from the April 2008 meeting. Board member Wise moved to approve the minutes as read and Board member Feferman seconded. The motion passed. III. Approval of Board member absences for the April 16th,2008 Board meeting Vice-Chair Montesano inquired which members were absent from the April Airport Board meeting. Staff informed the Vice-Chair that Board member Olivares was absent from the April meeting. Vice-Chair Montesano called for a motion. Board member Susscr moved to approved Board member Olivares' absence. Board member Wise seconded and the motion passed. IV. Public Comment* Director Segundo introduced Kathy Cargile and Dale Morris with American Airlines who requested to speak before the Board. Ms. Cargile introduced herself to the Board as the Regional Sales Manager for American Eagle based at DFW. She began her presentation by stating that in order to cope with the increasing price of fuel and the reduction of passengers, American Airlines announced there would be scheduled reductions in the fourth quarter of 2008, grounding 75 or approximately 12% of their fleet, including American Eagle. She added that Chicago would be the primary target for this reduction and added that this would be a strategic move in order to improve the company's financial status this economic crisis. In order to give the Board a better perspective on the reason for this reduction, Ms. Cargile informed the Board that with the rise of jet fuel prices, a one cent increase per gallon in fuel would equate to a $465 million annual increase company-wide. In order emphasize the impact of a one- cent increase in the price of fuel, Mr. Morris interjected that American Airlines, including American Eagle, consumes 250 million gallons daily, world-wide, on the regular scheduled flights. Corpus Christi Internationat Airport Board Agenda May 21, 1008 Page 1 of 5 Ms. Cargile continued by informing the Board that the airline consumes approximately 195,000 barrels of jet fuel daily and with the average MD-80 flight being over two hours long, the fuel consumption is over 2,100 gallons with jets being re-fueled 50,000 times each month. Ms. Cargile added that in spite of the company-wide reduction, CCIA would not currently be affected. She reported that a flight which had been canceled in June 2007, would be put back into operation the regular schedule beginning June I". Dale Morris introduced himself to the Board as the person who handles government affairs and community relations for American Airlines. He stated to the Board that with the high price of fuel and the increasing price of flights, American has been grounding some flights out of Chicago and felt that there would be more flights cut in the future. He did add that CCIA has been very proactive in working with their airline and, with that said, he reported that on July 2, 2008, another flight would be added,totaling 8 flights per day at CCIA. Mr. Morris also discussed that he would be working with CCIA on becoming a"diversion city", a move by their airline implemented in order to save money. By becoming a "diversion city", the Airport would either completely waive or have a portion of landing fees waived due to inclement weather. These cities are usually located near a large hub and would enable diverted aircraft to land in order to save fuel and/or refuel. He continued by stating that he would be working closely with staff in order to designate CCIA as a"diversion city." V. Motion to support the Resolution to the Texas Legislature approving the dedication of State Sales Tax collected on Aviation and Air Transportation related goods and services for Airport Development Vice-Chair Montesano referred to the sales tax information provided by staff and called for discussion on this topic. Director Segundo stated that this initiated was created by the Laredo Airport. He explained that the revenue currently collected on aviation goods goes back into the State's general fund. This initiative is to ensure that this aviation-related revenue be directed back to Texas airports. He added that this would be a great benefit to some of Texas' smaller airports with respect to providing funding to implement better safety. He questioned whether the Board would be in support of this initiative. Vice-Chair Montesano called for the question. Board member Susser moved to support this initiative and Board member Feferman seconded. The motion was unanimously passed. VI. Discussion and motion on Airport Board Attendance Guidelines Vice-Chair Montesano recapped the discussion heard at the April meeting regarding this issue. He stated that reasons for a members' absence from a regularly scheduled meeting should be articulated to staff and reported to the Board at the next meeting in order to better determine whether the member's absence is justified. Discussion followed. No vote was taken. VII. Discussion of development of Airport Board By-laws Vice-Chair Montesano explained the reason for the development of the Board's By-laws. Director Segundo stated the City's Charter states that one of the Airport Board's duties is to established By- laws. Discussion followed. Advisory Board member Hicks asked for examples of other City Boards' By-laws. Director Segundo stated he would send copies of different Board's By-laws for their review and this issue would be put on next meeting's agenda as an action item. Corpus Christi International Airport Board Agenda May 21,2008 Page 3 of S Vice-Chair Montesano questioned when the election of Board Officers would be conducted. Director Segundo stated that he had not found any written instructions on the election of Board Officers,and added that this process could be written into the Board's By-laws. VIII. Director's Report Director Segundo began his report by introducing Gary Williams to the Board. He explained that with the re-organization of the Airport's Divisions, he has been assigned as the Airport Maintenance Manager. Mr.Williams has been worldng at CCIA for five years. Director Segundo requested Advisory Board member Hicks to present the outgoing Airport Board members, Glenn Lyons and Rocco Montesano with plaques signifying the Airport appreciation for their terms and service on the Airport Board. Director Segundo reviewed the Parking Revenue Report and the increase of revenue in this area. This is a continuing trend and he felt this was due to better controls and supervision. Director Segundo reviewed the General Aviation Report and stated this report was somewhat confusing and presented the Board with another version of this information. He requested the Board's input on which graph was preferred He continued by stating that the GAR indicated activity as strong at the beginning of the calendar year and then slowed down with the rising price of fuel. He felt the trends for CCIA were still in effect, but he could not forecast if they would continue with the new fuel prices. He added that this new snapshot of trends would be included along with the current GAR report. Director Segundo referred to an aerial photograph for reference on the new initiatives for CCIA. The first initiative is the Coast Guard development which may not require a much larger area than initially considered. He is working with the FAA in order to find funding for supporting taxiway development for this project. Director Segundo also indicated on the aerial photo the 25 acre area that the US Customs Border Protection is considering for relocating their facilities. He continued by updating the Board on the T-Hangar development being considered by Mr.Hugele who has submitted his Letter of Intent. Staff is waiting on the Legal Department's review of this document before proceeding. He added that the FAA has committed funding for the horizontal design for these hangars. Director Segundo reported that the Halo Flight Hangar is under design and he indicated the area on the aerial photo where it would be placed at CCIA. He continued by indicating on the aerial photo where the RAC QTA would be located. It would be in the same area where existing facilities are currently located. A meeting was held with the rental car companies where they were given a conceptual layout. They agreed on the facility as well as CFC's. It was also agreed that dual-branding would be implemented. He added this would be a benefit for good customer service. An RFP would be put out and a minimum annual guarantee would be stipulated. When an agency is selected they have the option to select dual-branding which will increase an additional 1.4%to their minimum annual guarantee(MAG). Corpus Christi International Airport Board Agenda May 21, 2008 Page 4 of 5 Another initiative being considered is a Pet Kennel. Research continues on this initiative. Director Segundo reported on the development of the Berry Hangar project and requested support from the membership in any manner which could move this project along. Other future initiatives are: Airport Maintenance Facility; Emergency Operations Center (EOC); Del Mar School of Aviation. Director Segundo reported that CCIA now offers free wireless service. He added that a press release has been seat out on this topic. Director Segundo reported that an RFP would be developed for the retail space located pre- checkpoint. He felt this area would be a good location for business services company that could provide photo-copying, faxing, etc. He reported that he and Assistant Director Castillo are scheduled to meet with Allegiant Airlines at the JumpStart Program to be held in June in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. Director Segundo reported that he is still working to set up a monthly charter to Cancun with Aladia Airlines. He felt that Ioeal travel agents would be needed to assist in selling this service. The only set-back he felt would be a problem for these flights would be the size of the FIS area. He felt it would be too small to accommodate the number of passengers, 100 to 200, flying internationally. He added that Aladia could also provide charters to Vail, Colorado. They are looking to begin service by this summer. He informed the Board that the Laredo Airport can accommodate 300 passengers; McAllen International Airport, 200 passengers per hour. He will continue to research developing the area to accommodate more passengers. Director Segundo stated that Port Director, Edith Clarke, continues to support the Point of Entry designation for CCIA in order to increase the manpower for the US Customs and Border Protection. At present,they are limited due to staffing on the length of time responses for their services. Director Segundo reported he has not heard from Aeromar Airlines. He informed the Board the John DeCoster with Trillion Aviation has been hired to assist with the development of the new use and lease agreements for the airlines. He also invited the membership to participate in this process and would be contacting them on a meeting date and time to meet with Mr. DeCoster regarding this topic. Discussion was heard on the number of diversions at CCIA. Director Segundo reported that in discussing this topic with Mr. Morris with American. Airlines, it would require very little investment to allow these diversions to land at CCIA and, even with a 50% waiving of the standard landing fees, would be an increase to Airport revenues. After this discussion,the consensus of the Board was to give preference for American Airlines diversions. Board member Susser requested that he be provided information on the length of the RFP process for the FBO lease agreements. Director Segundo responded that he would provide that information to Board mcmber Susser. Corpus Christi International Airport Board Agenda May 21,2008 Page 5 of 5 Director Segundo asked for the memberships' assistance in getting these initiatives realized. TX Adjournment As there was not further business, Vice-Chair Montesano called for a motion to adjourn. Board member Feferman moved to adjourn and Board member Lyons seconded. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 5:09 p.m.