Struggling Front Range Airport targets passenger service

By Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 13, 2008 at 8 p.m.

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Linda McConnell / Special To Rocky

A small plane taxis at Front Range Airport on Monday. Faced with diminishing growth prospects, the airport may try offering airline service.

Front Range Airport, it seemed, had everything lined up perfectly a few years ago.

The small general aviation airport east of Denver was preparing to welcome a new aircraft manufacturing plant that promised to eventually employ hundreds of workers.

At the same time, it was talking to Frontier Airlines about the potential for a maintenance facility on airport land, while efforts to create a massive transportation hub in the area had moved into the fast lane.

More jobs, revenue and growth were on the horizon.

But none of those projects panned out - at least not yet.

So the 24-year-old airport, faced with diminishing growth prospects, is headed in a new direction.

Front Range has focused on cargo, private and business jet operations in the past, but it is now gearing up to pursue commercial airline service as well. The best possibility: turboprop flights or regional jets that would shuttle passengers to mountain towns in Colorado or smaller cities in nearby states, maybe as soon as 2010.

It's a bold move that could open the door to more flights in the Denver area and help lower ticket prices on some routes. But it also pits Front Range against Denver International Airport, located just a few miles away, for both flights and federal funding.

Front Range, though, sees it as a vital part of its future.

The Adams County-owned airport pumped millions of dollars in federal, local and private money into improvements to accommodate a large operation, be it a maintenance hangar or a manufacturing plant.

Nothing of that scale has materialized, creating financial strain on an airport already suffering from the effects of a rapid rise in the price of fuel. New scheduled passenger service could fill that void or, at the very least, help attract other types of operations.

"We're about out of ideas on how to grow at this point," said Dennis Heap, Front Range's director. "We have a responsibility to make this $104 million infrastructure successful and to grow it in the long term, so we are exploring bringing in commercial service as one option."

Front Range has purposely avoided commercial airline flights for years. In fact, it had agreed not to pursue such operations in a 1992 deal, although Front Range officials say the agreement is no longer valid.

The airport even turned down overtures two years ago by low-cost carrier SkyBus Airlines. The company, which recently went out of business, was exploring the possibility of starting service to Front Range as a way to tap the Denver market, Heap said.

Still, the conversations with SkyBus got airport officials thinking about diversifying operations, and they eventually decided to look into the the potential for commercial airline flights.

The effort, though, took on a sense of urgency when several promising projects seemingly evaporated overnight or entered a holding pattern:

* Centennial-based Aviation Technology Group had planned to manufacture its new Javelin jet at Front Range and eventually employ up to 500 workers there. The company ran into financial problems and ceased operations late last year.

* Frontier chose Colorado Springs as the site of its new maintenance hangar, dashing Front Range's hopes of landing the operation, although the carrier is now revisiting the decision as it restructures in bankruptcy.

* The long-planned TransPort development, which will combine rail, air and road cargo transportation near Front Range, hasn't yet gotten off the ground as developers work through numerous issues.

That's left the airport in a precarious position.

Front Range embarked on numerous upgrades, including road improvements and the construction of an air traffic control tower and a wastewater treatment plant to handle growth.

"For 14 years we've been building this infrastructure, and it's an infrastructure built to accommodate a large-scope project and to accommodate large aircraft," Heap said. "Our responsibility is to make sure that the dollars invested into the airport are spent right."

On top of that, the airport has seen a drop-off in some areas of its business as the price of fuel rockets.

Business jet operations are up considerably, but its other traffic has weakened significantly, falling 15 percent through the first four months of the year. Total fuel sales have dipped as well, falling 29 percent in April alone.

That, coupled with the fact that none of the expected projects materialized, has forced Front Range to revise its 2008 budget downward. As part of the cutbacks, Front Range will implement pay cuts and slash its budget for small capital projects.

Front Range also will come up short on payments related to the new wastewater plant. The airport expected to use revenues gleaned from the ATG manufacturing plant to pay back the cost of that plant. Adams County will chip in until Front Range can get its revenues up.

Bill Becker, president of Adams County Economic Development, said commercial service could be the jump-start Front Range needs.

"There's a lot of public dollars that aren't being utilized out there, and I think this could be a boon for them," Becker said.

The airport could offer airlines lower rates than DIA, which would be one of its biggest selling points.

But preparing for passenger service will be costly, as Front Range needs to make numerous improvements to win Federal Aviation Administration approval to do so. That includes building a security screen area in the terminal, strengthening runways and adding parking.

Heap estimates it will cost the airport $12 million to make the necessary upgrades, which Front Range could potentially finance through airport revenue bonds or other measures.

Front Range also would find itself in direct competition with DIA.

The large airport has taken a tough stance on this issue in the past, although it's now sounding a more cooperative tone.

"Obviously, we believe DIA is the place for growth," DIA spokesman Jeff Green. "Having said that we would look forward to working with Adams County and Front Range to discuss how we can work together for the benefit of both airports."

Even so, DIA shouldn't sweat it out, some observers say.

Front Range could have a tough time luring new service, especially in an environment where most carriers are cutting flights and growth plans. The airport's close proximity to DIA also could hamper its efforts.

"This will be an uphill climb for Front Range, given the current and near-term aviation industry environment," John Kasarda, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who has studied airport growth, said via e-mail. "Low-cost carriers tend to go where there is already some commercial service. Even if a low-cost carrier operates from Front Range it will have no or very little impact on DIA."

walshc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2744

• May 14, 2008

  9:48 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  jacka writes:

  Becker and Kasarda are spot on. In many cities (here, Asia, Europe) we have a regional facility and an international port.

  Looks like DIA is on board too, all the investors need to work out is a business plan and some suppliers of service.

• May 14, 2008

  12:54 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Logan5 writes:

  I think it's time for the little country airport to stop trying to be something it's not. Front Range is a fine small general aviation airport, that serves as a lower-cost alternative to Centennial or Rocky Mountain Metropolitan (aka Jeffco). It's only problem in continuing to entertain its delusions of grandeur is that there is a real $5 billion air transport hub right next door. It would be silly to throw more money down a rathole merely to duplicate capability that already exists at the big airport.

  As far as the $100 million or so that has already been spent to upgrade Front Range, no one should shed one tear for Adams County or its airport. They clearly made a series of bad bets and lost. Throwing another $12 million down the same hole is a little like a compulsive gambler getting himself in even deeper because he's just sure that that next roll of the dice will get him out of the hole he's put himself in.

  I think it's time for Adams County/Front Range to put the dice down, step back from the table, and learn to be content with what they still have left.

• May 14, 2008

  2:04 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  WarrenJimmyBuffett writes:

  Oh, Schucks.

• May 14, 2008

  3:38 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  ruserious writes:

  agree with Logan5 completely.

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