"D/FW concessionaires catch a break"

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

Airport concessionaires catch a break
By DAVID WETHE
The Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram


D/FW AIRPORT - For the cash-strapped airport concessionaires, help is on the
way.

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport plans to waive about $3.25 million in fees it
would normally charge concessionaires in Terminal D, where American Airlines
delayed a much-anticipated opening by three months, and in Terminal E, where
Delta Air Lines slashed almost all of its operations last year.

The airport said Tuesday it expects to lose a maximum of $3 million in
revenue by waiving several months worth of rent for its 59 concession spots
in Terminal D.

Another $250,000 in aid will come in the form of a waiver for increased
parking charges that was supposed to go into effect this month.

Concessionaires will have their rents waived from September through the end
of October. The expiration date on their 5-year or 10-year leases will also
be pushed back to make up for the delay.

About half of the terminal's concession shops have not been able to open
because there aren't enough customers walking through the terminal. The six
international airlines that have been flying from the new terminal since its
opening July 23 have brought in about 4,200 passengers a day. That's
expected to jump to between 12,000 and 15,000 passengers when American
begins flying on Oct. 29.

"These folks in Terminal D have been hurt," Kevin Cox, D/FW's chief
operating officer, told members of the airport board's finance and audit
committee on Tuesday.

When the airport replaced its old people-mover system with the new Skylink
automated train this year, the path changed, and employee parking lots were
cut out of Skylink's route.

D/FW was forced to start up a $2.8 million bus system to carry airport
workers from the two employee lots to the terminal. To cover that cost, the
airport raised the monthly fees from $30 an employee to $40, effective Oct.
1.

But airport officials then decided they didn't want concessionaires,
particularly those in terminals D and E, to take on that extra cost, said
Chris Poinsatte, chief financial officer of D/FW Airport.

On Tuesday, the finance and audit committee agreed to waive the $10 increase
for the next six months for only concessionaire employees.

The decision will need to be approved when the full board meets Thursday.

Some Terminal D concessionaires have said even though they can't recoup lost
revenue from the past couple of months, the rent abatements are fair.

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