Work & Money reported today that our local CVBs are trying to woo Korean travel to the DFW area. That included a trip out there in January to Seoul where our reps glad-handed more than 200 Korean travel agents, folks that book corporate travel and media. In the newspaper, we didn't print any of the eye candy the airport sent over as an example of what that kind of session looks like in action, so here it is now.
- Bryon Okada
A small group of American Airlines flight attendants demonstrated at D/FW Airport today, hoping to spur passengers to visit their PaxForPax Internet site. We've got a story here on the protest at Star-Telegram.com.
Airfare guru Tom Parsons of Bestfares.com ran afoul of the carry-on baggage police while in the security line at D/FW Airport this morning. He told us he was approached by an employee who works for American and told that he had to put his newspapers into his carry-on bag - apparently they violated the two-item rule. His wife also had to combine some items to keep within the two-bag limit.
American spokesman Tim Wagner said the airline has been using contract employees at the airport for some time now to help out in security lines, and their duties include keeping an eye on carry-on bags to make sure passengers follow the rules.
American's airport managers "have had no problems to speak of at the airports with people trying break the carry on rules." Anecdotally, he said, "I’ve been told that when overhead bins are full, we’re gate checking a handful of bags at most, two, three, four, five." The average checked bag per passenger has gone down slightly, he said.
Still, the presence of the "baggage police" is a good reminder that passengers are allowed just one suitcase for the overhead bin and one personal item that fits under the seat.
Apparently this e-mail was sent to Channel 11 from the travel agency that has the flight-booking contract with Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. It was dated today at 1:08 p.m.
"We are the official travel agency for the airport and our job is to find DFW business travelers the best fares at the appropriate time. At no time has DFW asked for or the agency booked full domestic first class tickets for any DFW traveler. We have followed DFW own policies and found a number of domestic flights that are upgradeable to first class with promotional or paid upgrades, all within policy and lower-priced than full fare economy tickets. Like most businesses with global interests, DFW wants the best price for airline tickets and the flexibility to change as business demands or schedules change. Those changes have all been made within DFW travel policy both domestically and internationally."
Randal L Limbacher
President, Canyon Creek Travel/American Express
As you may recall, Channel 11 has been running an extended expose -- the link here has links to different parts of the story -- on travel expenses and other expenditures made by airport executives and board members. The airport has set up a web site with their side of the story. This morning, FW Mayor Mike Moncrief called for an audit of the expenses.
The saga continues.
- Bryon Okada
This afternoon, the D/FW board -- most of it anyway -- discussed the Channel 11 expose last week on airport executive living the life of luxury on the taxpayers' dime. The story went back and forth, as recounted here and here and here. So today the Finance Committee heard DFW CEO Jeff Fegan's primer on selling DFW abroad.
The basics go something like this:
As soon as a carrier somewhere in the world puts in a major order for new jets, it sets off a competition that often spans the globe. Obviously, since it takes years for the planes to be built, delivered and put into service, there is a time frame in which numerous people vie for the affections of the carrier. These days, the hot markets are Asia, the Middle East, India and parts of Europe. By the time a carrier has the planes to put into service, usually the routes are already decided. What you hope for as an airport is that you can cultivate an identity within the carrier's officials -- some little kernel of interest -- that will get you on the list of possible routes. This can often require wining and dining of officials -- and the presence of top executives and board members to secure meetings with prospective carriers. So many airports go abroad -- to conferences, to events -- in order to network, to get on the list, so maybe you have a shot at a route -- because bringing in just one route can mean $100 million to $300 million in economic benefit. If it means you have to spend several tens of thousands of dollars in gifts to foreign dignitaries, or for dinners, or for business meetings at expensive hotels, so be it, that's part of selling DFW on the international market. (And selling DFW also means selling the region, which benefits everyone locally.)
The vast majority of the board supported this view of what the airport is doing with its business development efforts and even encouraged EVP Marketing Joe Lopano to step it up.
Member Forrest Smith: "The public has the right to know where the money is spent." He said reporting on the airport is often fair and accurate. He said the Ch. 11 story was neither. However, it can be used as a learning tool about how much transparency is needed at the airport to ensure people have confidence in what the airport is doing.
Member Jeff Wentworth: The airport should show in its documentation where plane tickets are purchased at economy levels and then upgraded. (Ch. 11 reported that Fegan had traveled first class when in fact he had purchased a full-fare coach seat then used upgrades to fly first class.)
Member John Loza: (to Lopano) "During tough economic times, you have to be even more aggressive selling this airport." As for the Ch. 11 report, he said, "I don't think we have anything to apologize for."
Member Francisco Hernandez (on Ch. 11 report): "It was a hatchet job." He said it was important not to be over-defensive by over-explaining what the airport does.
Member Bernice Washington: "The people are pissed -- fair or not." She said the report raised myriad questions that called into question the credibility of the airport executives. She said the accuracy of the report was secondary because the public believed the report to be true. "People perceive we have violated the spirit of the law." As a result, she asked questions about Fegan's salary, executive pay structure, employee car allowances and other issues raised by the Ch. 11 story. It was subsequently explained to the Dallas member that the board she sits on sets Fegan's salary and his review would be coming up in December.
Chairwoman Lillie Biggins said it was important to continue to market DFW, the airport and the region, to the rest of the world rather than "hunker down."
This echoed Fegan's remarks about not having a "bunker mentality" as a result of tough economic times.
As a result of the Ch. 11 investigation, an internal audit was conducted by Rob Darby of how the airport is adhering to board policy. While there were no egregious or systematic misapplications of the policy, Darby did suggest to staff that better documentation would be necessary to keep airport expeditures transparent.
As previously noted on this blog, there was no OBA (official board action) associated with this discussion, so the board did not alter its policy in any way.
It will be interesting to see if that's the end of it, or whether the mayors of owner cities Fort Worth and Dallas have their own two cents on the issue come Thursday morning.
FYI: Ch. 11 did not show up for the meeting, although Ch. 8 did, as well as the usual -- Terry Maxon with the DMN and, of course, your friendly neighborhood Star-Telegram.
- Bryon Okada
It had already been a long road when the Susan Heath whistleblower case against DFW Airport went to trial in July 2006. After all, Heath, a former DFW environmental scientist, filed her original complaint in January 1999 claiming DFW mischaracterized the effectiveness of its old stormwater and industrial waste system in order to win seven years worth of federal grants.
A jury heard the evidence and when it was all over, they found that D/FW had not knowingly given the federal government a false claim for payment or approval when it submitted 16 grant applications for $156 million between 1992 and 1998.
I wrote back then: "The 12 jurors took less than two hours to sort through nearly a decade’s worth of accusations by a whistleblower about the lack of capacity of the airport’s industrial wastewater system, about cover-ups of de-icing-fluid spills — and whether the airport had been a polluter of area creeks and streams throughout the 1990s."
As for Susan Heath, she said, "Yes, I am disappointed, but my life goes on. And I got to tell my story."
But that wasn't the end.
D/FW filed its bill of costs, to be paid by Heath, on Aug. 11, 2006. On Aug. 25, Heath filed a motion challenging the costs. An appeal to the entire case was filed a month later. In February 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the District Court. As with the lower court, this court ordered Heath to pay D/FW's court costs.
Therefore, over the past months, like it has been for years, an item appeared on the D/FW Board agenda's executive session to deal with legal matters pertaining to the Heath case.
Today, a Motion to Withdraw was filed in Dallas District Court, citing Heath and the D/FW Airport Board's agreement "to withdraw plaintiff's objections to and request to modify order of the magistrate judge regarding bill of costs and agreed motion to enter settlement regarding costs into the court records."
Legal wrangling on the matter has apparently been going on through 2007 and into 2008, and the matter was set for a hearing on Sept. 12. But the parties reached a settlement on 9-11.
According to court documents, "Having reached a settlement regarding the Bill of Costs, Heath has agreed to withdraw the Objections to and Request to Modify Order of the Magistrate Judge Regarding Costs which was filed on February 9, 2007. Further, the parties wish to enter the following settlement terms into the Court’s record:
1. Plaintiff Susan Heath agrees to pay the sum of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00) without interest in full and final settlement of all pending Bill of Costs claims;
2. The sum of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30, 000.00) shall be paid within six (6) months to Defendant, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board.
I made a quick call to Tracey Wallace at Adorno Yoss White & Wiggins, who helped defend D/FW in the original case, and she confirmed that the case, at last, is over.
This evening the board agendas came out for next week's meetings at D/FW Airport. For the first time in I don't know how long the Heath case does not appear.
{Photo of Heath and a D/FW outfall was taken in 2001 by Jill Johnson for the Star-Telegram's "Murky Waters" investigation by Miles Moffeit.}
- Bryon Okada
As Bryon noted, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport has launched "Travel Truth," a section of the airport's Internet site that squares off against the recent reports on CBS 11 about the travel habits of airport executives.
As we've written here at Sky Talk and in the Star-Telegram, the folks at D/FW feel very strongly that they've been unfairly maligned by the travel expense stories, and the site is home to a lengthy list of facts and rebuttals on the site. It also includes quotes from a variety of news sources, including the Star-Telegram and Sky Talk.
One colleague remarked to me today: "I haven't seen them this upset since the Wright Amendment battle."
They're not likely to cool down any time soon. Channel 11 is continuing to air stories critical of the airport, including this one on salaries and perks for top airport employees. D/FW already has a rebuttal to that story, which can be read here.
Here's Item #39 for next Thursday's D/FW Airport Board meeting: "Discussion of Board Travel and Executive Travel Cards Policies."
Apparently there's no OBA (official board action) proposed.
Or, if you want to see the discussion go down in person, be there for the Finance/Audit Committee meeting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. If it's going to get explosive -- or be a dud -- it'll most likely happen there.
- Bryon Okada
There's a new web site here -- the airport's attempt to debunk the CBS 11 expose.
- Bryon Okada
We blogged earlier this week about a CBS 11 report on the travel habits of D/FW Airport executives. Now, the airport has issued a detailed response to the story, slamming it as "very inaccurate, distorted and misleading."
The D/FW response can be found here (or just keep reading this post for the full statement), and here's a link to the original Channel 11 report.The station also has a report on a pricey trip taken by Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief (who is also a D/FW board member) to Dubai.
UPDATE, 5:33 P.M.
Here's a statement from Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert (who also sits on the D/FW board) on the issue:
“We always want to keep a careful eye on expenses. The reporter raised some serious questions concerning spending, and it’s up to the Board to do its due diligence and check out the facts. If we discover that policies may need changing or tightening, then we should do it.”
And here's a response from airport spokesman Ken Capps to Leppert's response:
"The mayor, the DFW Board of Directors and the management team are in full agreement when it comes to keeping tight control of airport expenses. To date, DFW Airport has reduced expenses by $9 million dollars for 2008 while simultaneously bringing new air service to North Texas valued at $125 million in positive economic impact this year. We will continue to update the board of directors with the facts regarding expenses and travel and correct the misinformation being aired by Channel 11."
It does look like Channel 11 erred in reporting that airport execs paid for first-class tickets on domestic trips. D/FW provided us with spreadsheets of all domestic ticket purchases since January 2007, and they all appear to be coach fares. Apparently some of them were upgraded to first class using frequent flier miles, which is allowed under the airport's travel policy and wouldn't have cost D/FW anything extra.
UPDATE, 5:56 P.M.
And yet another response, this one from Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief:
“It’s important that we have clear answers to the questions that have been raised. I agree with Mayor Leppert that this issue certainly deserves to be thoroughly reviewed by the DFW Airport Board to ensure the travel and expense policies are appropriate.
Moncrief also addresses the Channel 11 story about his first-class ticket to Dubai on D/FW business:
“Regarding first class air travel, it has been my long standing policy to reimburse organizations for any first class seat upgrades when traveling on behalf of the city. I am certainly mindful of the importance of saving taxpayer dollars, and I have always done this on city business trips. This was my first trade mission trip with DFW International Airport, and this reimbursement was administratively overlooked in this case. It is, however, being addressed immediately.”
