With an improved terminal, a new military terminal under construction and progress toward a major aeronautical industrial park, the Colorado Springs Airport has a lot going on. The city-owned airport serves an estimated 1 million people in Southern Colorado, according to Aviation Director Mark Earle, approximately half of them from Colorado Springs. Home to seven passenger carriers, the airport saw approximately 2 million people get on or off a plane in 2005 and is due to have more this year. "Our traffic is growing at 2 percent to 3 percent a year, which is healthy," Earle said. The movement of thousands of more soldiers to the Fort Carson Army camp only will help because of the support personnel and families accompanying the soldiers, he said. That equals more people who travel, and therefore, more people who fly.
Right now, the airport offers nonstop flights to 13 cities in the United States, as well as connections through those to a lot more places. Several carriers also have shuttle flights to Denver International Airport as part of their flight offerings to other destinations, Earle said. Most flights are by commuter planes, except for a few United flights that use jumbo jets. Many of the carriers use smaller companies such as Mesa Air, Comair and Sky West, with planes painted the same as the larger company, to provide the actual flights. United will change its service by the end of October to replace its remaining jumbo jet flights with commuter-size planes. The change is part of United's decision to subcontract more services and employees, but it will provide more actual flights and the same number of seats as the larger planes, Earle said.
The jumbo jets, planes such as Airbuses and 737s, could be used during the summer months when the airport enjoys its busy season, the airport director said. The airport has been trying to attract more carriers, especially a low-fare carrier such as the old Western Pacific. That carrier caused a jump in airport use several years ago with super-cheap fares, but only lasted a few years. "We talk to carriers constantly, both existing ones and others," Earle said. "We have good service for a city this size. What we have to work on is pricing." One place the airport doesn't serve by connecting flights is Pueblo, which has a smaller airport and still is struggling to keep a carrier and trying to establish itself with the flying public. Earle said Colorado Springs doesn't specifically try to compete with Pueblo's airport. "There's always going to be the potential for competition," Earle said. "But we haven't seen that.
We fully support Pueblo's efforts to develop its airport." Away from the peanuts and seat belts, the airport has been undergoing a major expansion and face-lift. Phase One of the terminal improvement project, which began in 2004, was finished this spring. It includes a larger terminal, more and bigger eating and shopping spaces, new waiting areas, free wireless Internet access, a revamped decor inside the terminal, rebuilt roads to improve traffic flow and baggage screening activity moved from the public terminal areas. The second phase will include new signs inside and out, more aesthetic improvements, resurfacing all the roads, building a canopy over the shuttle bus waiting area and walkways to the rental and short-term parking lots and building a "cell parking" lot for people who are waiting outside for an arriving passenger.
The total project cost is approximately $26 million and the airport has done it without borrowing. Earle said the money has come from some federal grants, the airport's $3 per ticket facility fee, profits from parking and concessions revenue and funding from rental cars. The companies that run the food and gift shops also have helped by paying for the improvements in their areas, Earle said. The airport also is growing in other avenues. The airport and airport businesses are expanding facilities on the west side. SkyWest, a subcontractor for United and Delta, is building a large maintenance facility there. Earle said that will lead to more SkyWest flights coming to Colorado Springs.
A large aeronautical industrial park program is under way with the potential to develop 600-plus acres of grasslands on which buildings and other facilities will be built for aeronautical-related companies. Construction already has begun on buildings for two companies, Northrop Grumman (150,000 square feet) and The Aerospace Corporation (95,000 square feet). The companies will lease the land from the airport, using 50-year contracts, and may build more later. Those two leases were approved because the companies wanted to get started quickly, Earle said. Other leases will wait until next year or so, when the airport hires a master development company to develop the land and lease out parcels.
Earle said it was decided to allow a private company to handle the development of the airport land because the private company would have more capital on hand and more expertise, and to give the private sector the chance at the profits involved. One bonus for the master development company, when chosen, will be that tax-free bonds issued by the developer may be used to finance some of the roads and other infrastructure development needed to develop the business park. A huge benefit for the airport is the ongoing construction of the Arrivals/Departures Airfield Group facility, which is being built for the military southeast of the current terminal. The $52 million facility, which is being paid for by the federal government, will provide a place for troops and other military personnel to access military planes and be processed. It will handle as many as five giant C-5 cargo planes at a time.