HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Airport Board - 06/16/2021REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
CORPUS CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BOARD
JUNE 16TH, 2021 3:30 P.M.
THIS MEETING WILL BE BOTH IN-PERSON & CONDUCTED ONLINE
TO JOIN THE MEETING ONLINE & PARTICIPATE, GO TO THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE:
https://zoom.us ~ Zoom Meeting ID: ~ Password: JUNE2021
BOARD MEMBERS
Ted Mandel, 2nd Vice-chairman Luis Buentello, Member Karl Tomlinson, Member
Kusumakar Sooda, Member John LaRue, Member Randall Hicks, Member
Hans Schumann, Member
CITY STAFF
Kevin Smith, Director of Aviation Tyler Miller, Deputy Director Kimberly Miller, Finance Manager
Kim Hunt, Marketing Manager John Hyland, Chief of Public Safety Victor Gonzalez, Major Projects Manager
Lawrence Thormaehlen, Interim Facilities Manager Albert Bejarano, Operations Manager Elizabeth Hundley, Asst. City Attorney
Adelle Ives, Management Assistant
I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m.
II. Roll Call
Roll was called and a quorum was present.
III. Public Comment*
None.
IV. Approval of the absences for the May 19th, 2021, Regular Airport Board Meeting
Second Vice-chairman Mandel called for a motion to excuse the absences of Board member Hicks and First Vice-
chairman Feferman from the May 19th, 2021, Regular Airport Board meeting. Board member Tomlinson moved to
excuse the two members’ absences. Board member Buentello second and the motion carried.
V. Approval of minutes for the May 19th, 2021, Regular Airport Board Meeting
Second Vice-chairman Mandel called for a motion to approve the minutes. Board member LaRue moved to accept
the meeting minutes as written. Board member Buentello seconded. Board member Hicks asked that the minutes
be corrected to reflect that he was present at the April Airport Board meeting. The motion was amended to reflect
the change of Board member Hicks’ presence at the Airport Board meeting. Board member Schumann moved to
approve. Board member Buentello second and the motion carried.
VI. Executive Session
The Airport Board went into Executive Session. Upon reconvening, 2nd Vice-chairman Mandel announced that no
action would be taken on Item VI.
VII. Presentation, Discussion and Possible Action to recommend City Council approve Revisions to
Chapter 9 of the City Code of Ordinances
Deputy Director Miller went over the proposed revisions to Chapter 9, which is a part of the City Code
of Ordinances pertaining to the Airport. He noted that the key revisions include the removal of parking
rates and charges from the City Ordinance; the removal of other rates and charges regarding permits,
landing fees and ground transportation; the expansion of authority over vehicles abandoned on Airport
property; and, the language pertaining to smoking areas. Discussion was heard on this item.
Second Vice-chairman Mandal called for a motion. A motion was made by Board member Hicks and
seconded by Board member Tomlinson. The motion carried.
VIII. Presentation and Discussion on Upcoming ROUTES AMERICA 2021 Conference Presentation
Director Smith notified the members that both he and Deputy Director Miller would be attending the ROUTES
America 2021 conference in Orlando, Florida at the end of June. They have already scheduled several meetings
with potential airlines and he is hopeful of the outcome.
IX. Director’s Reports
A. General Updates
i. Cell Phone Lot – Director Smith updated the members that the Cell Phone lot would be open July 1st
with a soft opening sometime before that date. Staff is currently waiting on signage installation to open
the lot.
ii. CC Under 40 – Director Smith announced that Deputy Director Miller was nominated and selected for
the CC Under 40 award. Marketing Manager, Kim Hunt, briefed the members on the CC Under 40
program which was originally started by the Young Business Professionals organization. It is awarded
annually to highlight those individuals who are up and coming young professionals who are making a
difference professionally as well as from a civic standpoint.
iii. Parking Lot Update – Director Smith reported that the management of the Parking Lot was once
again taken over by CCIA on June 1st. All positions are filled and several Reef Parking employees
were kept on by the Airport. The equipment installation will begin next week.
iv. United Airlines baggage office space – Director Smith reported that United Airlines’ lease space will
be changing to reflect about 200 sq ft less. This change will allow for possible new leasing
opportunities which will be brought to Board once finalized.
B. Monthly Air Service Update
Director Smith updated the members on the status of this month’s Air Service. He pointed out that retention
continues improving from 2020. He reported on bookings no longer reflected negative numbers and outpacing
2020 numbers. A request was made to include Austin and the Rio Grande Valley in the comparison numbers.
C. General Activity Report (GAR)
Director Smith reported that there was a significant increase in passenger numbers with 53,529 flying through
CCIA. With less flights available at CCIA, this increase was phenomenal. He continued by reporting on the total
amount of freight flying through CCIA. It is not recovering as quickly as passenger numbers; but, it is still slowing
climbing. Director Smith also noted that military operations have dropped. Board member Shumann noted that
NAS Kingsville has grounded a significant number of planes due to a mechanical issue which may be the reason
for such low numbers of military operations at CCIA.
D. Financial Report
Kimberly Miller, Finance Manager, reported that parking revenue has increased by 400% from 2020 at $158,891.
She continued by stating that a budget column was added to this report to show where the revenues and
expenditures fall within the budget. Revenue actuals for FY 20-21 are at $5.7M while the budget reflects $5.5M.
Expenditure actuals are at $6.2M with the budget reflecting $6.4M. CARES funds will be used to make up the
deficit at the end of the fiscal year.
E. Marketing Report
Kim Hunt, Marketing Manager, updated the board on the digital marketing campaign. Ads appeared in Google
search over 15,328 times with 1,735 clicks to a landing page. Of those clicks, there were 1,024 clicks through to
Book It!, which produces a conversion rate of 59%. The benchmark for other airports that use the same ad service
is 25% indicating CCIA’s numbers as phenomenal. For those who clicked on the ad but did not go through to Book
It, they are re-targeted on Facebook to those who have Facebook accounts. That re-targeting served 45,000
impressions with 585 clicks to the landing page and 11 Book It! clicks. Display ads have 193,000 impressions on
high traffic websites which are those that target the Airport’s target market. Of those impressions, 737 clicked
through to a landing page with a click-through rate of .38%. With industry averages for this kind of advertising
being .04%, this marks exceptional results for CCIA. She also reported that CCIA begun a subscription to a
platform which is a social media management tool that allows better management of postings through several
social media platforms while providing an overview of usage for each platform. She gave a brief explanation of the
information that this tool would be providing. She felt that the analytics would give a better picture of where to
focus advertising.
F. Construction Status Report
Deputy Director Miller reported updates on Airport construction projects. The Terminal, GA and apron project is
moving forward. This project is funded by the FAA and schedule to end in late September. He continued by
reporting that the TSA baggage relocation project started with the Notice To Proceed last week. The scope is at
Phase I which moves the equipment from the lobby to a separate room with a cost of $564,000. This is a locally
funded project which will minimize the impact to customers and improving the in frastructure at the Airport. This
project will be on-going for three months with scheduled completion at the end of the fiscal year. The demolition of
Hangar 1 is paused in order to come up with a memorialization of the building because of it’s historical value. This
project will probably not begin until the beginning of next year.
G. City Council Action Report
i. Ex-officio Representative
Director Smith reported that the Airport Board now has two ex-officio members which are the CEO of
the Visit Corpus Christi and the CEO of Regional Economic Corp.
ii. QTA Purchases
With COVID and the decrease of rental cars from the RACs, the QTA was not being utilized as much.
Now that the RACs are increasing their inventory, the QTA is getting a revamp to better regulate the
usage by each RAC. This item was for those improvements.
H. Items for next Board meeting
Cybersecurity
X. Adjournment
As there was no other business, Second Vice-chairman Mandel called for a motion to adjourn. Board member
LaRue moved. Board member Buentello seconded. The motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 5:07 p.m.