By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Three commercial air carriers who could provide passenger service to Del Rio will meet with local elected and business leaders to hear their “sales pitch,” City Manager Shawna Burkhart told members of the Del Rio Economic Development Corporation (EDC) recently.
Burkhart gave an update on the city’s efforts to recruit a commercial airline for Del Rio International Airport to the EDC board during its regular meeting on July 10.
Burkhart told the group, “The city and the EDC have been working together on airline recruitment.”
She said the EDC contributed funding to pay Volaire Aviation, a consulting firm assisting the city in recruiting an airline. Commercial air service at the airport ended in 2022.
Burkhart said there would be “a very specialized stakeholders’ meeting” with one air service carrier (on July 16).
“(The meeting is) for key stakeholders that will influence whether or not a regional airline will be landed here,” Burkhart said.
The city manager said the meeting would include representatives of Laughlin Air Force Base and other key players from the community.
“(We will also discuss its impact on) medical recruitment for the hospital, so Mr. (Jorge) Jurado (Val Verde Regional Medical Center chief executive officer) and Mr. Seferino Gomez (elected hospital board member) will speak to those issues. We will have several individuals who will speak to (the needs of) the maquiladora association. We will have several who will speak about the Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña Chambers of Commerce, and (they will speak to) the impact (of an airline) on our local community,” Burkhart said.
Burkhart emphasized the meeting is a “recruitment effort.”
She told the EDC board, “We’re not even releasing the name until the entity gets there, but this is solely a recruitment effort. This is not a negotiation on any part. We have not got a negotiation going at this point. It’s just simply our sales of ourselves, if you will, to regional airlines.”
The city manager said there are three carriers “we are working with right now.”
Following the first meeting with airline representatives, The 830 Times contacted City Communications and Marketing Director Peter Ojeda and asked him to release the name of the company with whom city officials met, and Ojeda said the city preferred not to release the name of the company at this time since nothing is final and the city’s efforts at recruitment are ongoing.
“We will probably be holding three meetings similar to this in the next two to three months. Our greatest desire is to have someone by the end of the year. It may be the spring (of 2026), but we are working tirelessly to do that,” Burkhart said.
Burkhart then showed members of the EDC a flyer city staff members had developed.
“This is our sales pitch: ‘Fly DRT, Del Rio connecting to the world,’ so that is our slogan for the effort. We have t-shirts we’re giving to those who participate, but it’s simply to get out there and say this is a concerted effort, and it’s really not even for the individuals receiving it, but for a regional airline to see that all of us are in support of this effort,” Burkhart said.
“We want to show them visually and verbally that this is very important to us,” she added.
Burkhart said the first team of airline representatives will fly into Del Rio in the morning, have an afternoon meeting with the key stakeholders and dinner in the evening.
“The next day they will do a tour of the airport. They will meet with Mr. Kusenberger (owner of Pico Aviation, a fixed-base operator at the airport) and learn about all about the services he has to offer and what the airport provides, and after that they will meet with Laughlin (representatives), with a group at the base that does all the airline bookings,” Burkhart said.
She said the airline representative will also meet with representatives of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Burkhart said the city’s consultants, Volaire Aviation, will be with the representatives of the airline when they visit Del Rio.
EDC board member Raul Barksdale asked if the airline representatives have given the city “any idea of what they need on the current structure of the airport for a regional airline.”
“Each entity is different, but they will need some ground cargo handling and equipment handling so there is going to be a need for that. There is also going to be a need for a financial match if it’s a two- or three-year contract. All of that is still to be determined. They have not given any final numbers of any kind to us, but they are really very interested in us,” Burkhart replied.
“This entity that we’re working with right now is not as big of a plane as before but does connect to a major hub. There’s only two real major hubs we can connect to, Dallas or Houston, and so it does connect to Dallas, and we would be the beginning and the ending of their flight path, so in the morning they would start out from here and in the evening, they would stay overnight here, so there is a commitment on the part of the city to provide the lodging,” Burkhart said.
Burkhart said once the city reaches the point at which the airline representatives begin providing specific requirements they need to serve Del Rio, she would discuss those with the EDC board.
“We’re thrilled just to have the opportunity to talk to them,” Burkhart told the board.
Board president Ken Smith commented, “Historically, the contract with American worked fine. Historically there were some problems, and I think you mentioned that they are meeting with the transportation service group for the base. There was some kind of safety classification that the airline had to be in,” Smith said, asking if the airline with whom Burkhart would be meeting met that criteria, and she said it did.
“The way we came through that channel was internal recruiting or was it part of our agreement (with the consultants)?” Smith asked.
“No, it was all part of Volaire Aviation and all of their work,” Burkhart replied.
Burkhart said she has participated in “four or five” online meetings with the entity and has interacted with them via email.
“I think this is a strong contact,” Burkhart added.
Smith then asked about the money the city had pledged to set aside toward any revenue guarantee or incentive a prospective airline might require.
Burkhart replied the city will begin setting aside funds for any revenue guarantee after it pays off the revenue guarantee it extended to American Airlines and pays the city’s match on a federal grant for improvements at the airport.
Burkhart also told Smith she would like to see at least two members of the EDC board participate in the meeting with the airline representatives.
One of the EDC board’s newest members, Zach Lemp, said he would be available to join the group meeting with the prospective new airline. Another new board member, Frank Lowe, said he, too, would be available to participate in the meeting.
Burkhart said there is a 10-minute time slot for the EDC member to express how important an airline is to the community and how the EDC is willing to set aside funds “to dedicate to the recruitment efforts and maybe even ground handling and equipment issues.”
“I think that’s what they want to hear,” Burkhart told the board.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
