"Detroit Metro Airport trims operations"

Tuesday, November 5, 2002

Metro Airport trims operations
Three parking lots, valet service to close; 70 jobs will be lost
By Joel Kurth and Paul Egan
The Detroit (MI) News

  
   ROMULUS -- Detroit Metropolitan Airport will close most of the
economy parking lots serving Smith and Berry terminals this week to
reduce costs. 

   By Friday, valet parking will end, and three of five surface lots
will close, according to a memo obtained by The Detroit News and
confirmed by airport officials. The blue parking deck will remain open,
but the closures will reduce parking spaces at the terminals from 8,000
to 6,000 and eliminate almost 70 jobs. 

   It's uncertain how much the changes will save the airport, which has
considered several budget-cutting items to help airlines offset losses
from a decline in travel after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 

   The lots, whose users had to take shuttles to reach the terminals,
plummeted in popularity since the February opening of the $1.2 billion
Midfield Terminal. The new terminal, which serves Northwest Airlines,
has 11,500 parking spaces, said Michael Conway, spokesman for the
airport. 

   "It's a matter of efficiency," Conway said. "It'd be like having two
McDonald's (restaurants) within five blocks of each other. The airlines
are losing millions of dollars and laying off thousands of employees.
We're trying to help them every way we can." 

   Ampco System Airport Parking has the contract for parking at the
terminals, but The News couldn't reach its general manager, Thomas
Calvird, for comment Monday afternoon. 

   Steve Hicks, president of Teamsters Union Local 283 that represents
airport parking workers, said he expects at least 50 employees of Ampco
will be laid off. Another 17 workers at valet contractor Aerial Ventures
also are slated to lose their jobs. 

   Hicks agreed air travel and parking have declined, but he blamed the
closures on Wayne County's decision to hire competing parking
contractors. 

   Central Parking has the contract at the new terminal, while a third
company, Commuter Transportation, handles shuttle services. 

   "If they're losing money, it's crazy to be paying three companies,"
he said. 

   Ampco, which a year ago had about 240 shuttle bus drivers, valet
parking attendants and other workers at the airport, will likely have
fewer than 100 after the latest layoffs, Hicks said. The workers make
about $13 an hour, he said. 

   The changes came as a surprise to Danny Wilkerson, owner of Aerial
Ventures. The company helps satisfy federally mandated minority
contractor requirements at the airport. He said airport officials
excluded him from discussions about the parking problems, so he's been
forced to rely on rumors. 

   "The employees have been frightened. They come up and ask what's
going to happen and I can't answer them," Wilkerson said. "Business for
the valet service could be better. We have remedies, but we weren't
allowed to present them. We were never part of the dialogue." 

   Conway couldn't cite specifics, but said the valet service hasn't
been profitable for some time. The airport continued it as a service and
may eventually re-introduce it if customers demand it, Conway said. 

   Since September, the airport encouraged travelers to use the parking
deck through a coupon promotion that cuts the normal $13 daily rate to
$7. Set to end Friday, the deal instead will be extended until Jan. 8 to
wean customers from the surface lots, Conway said.


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