By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Members of the Del Rio Economic Development Corporation board heard an update Thursday on the city’s ongoing efforts to restore commercial air service between Del Rio
and the world.
City Manager Shawna Burkhart told the EDC board, “The city is still working with
Volaire (Aviation) consultants to assist us in recruiting a regional airline service. We are
currently working with two entities right now to try to see if we can get interest in our
market.
“As we continue to seek out different vendors, if you will, those are airline services,
regional airline services, that is, we will eventually get to a point where we can hold site
visits, and we would then allow those stakeholders who are very interested, obviously, in
landing an airline service, to give them information so they can attend a stakeholders’
meeting.”
Burkhart added, “We are not at that point yet. We had hoped to be (ready) by June, but it
looks like it might be within the next two to three months, so even at that point, it would
be just a site visit, but they have to go through their numbers and make sure that it works,
and then they have to tell us what it is that it’s going to financially take for the city, the
EDC, whoever might participate, what it would take to bring them here.”
EDC board member Ken Smith commented, “Obviously, EDC should play a part in
trying to support that in any way we can, whether it’s cash or some other support.
Aligned with that, there’s, I guess, other funds set aside for that, so I don’t know what all
that would mean, but we would look at that. It’s a super-exciting piece of information.”
Burkhart said, “We’ve already had one fairly lengthy visit with one entity, and we have
another visit, via TEAMS (a cloud-based meeting and file-sharing platform), for two
weeks from now, so we should, hopefully, have a site visit within the next three months.”
Smith said commercial air service is important to many different segments of the
community.
Burkhart added, “And even then, if we have a site visit, that does not guarantee that they
will come. It simply means that the stakeholders will have an opportunity to persuade
those entities that this is a worthwhile effort.”
Smith asked, “As they come in, is there any support that you need and what (would) that
package look like?”
The city manager said, “That is something that myself, Volaire and the assistant city
manager (will discuss) with each entity as we sit down with them.”
EDC board member Raul Barksdale asked, “Do they have any routes in mind, by
chance?”
“I guess what I’m getting at there is it’s bigger than that,” Smith replied, then asked if
city staff and the Volaire consultants would be “reaching out across the border” to
business owners and managers in Mexico.
“We will when it comes to a stakeholders’ meeting,” Burkhart replied.
EDC board member Richard D. Robles asked, “Would it be possible for the EDC and the
airport commission to get together so we can come up with a plan?”
“Absolutely, certainly. We can do that even before (the stakeholders’ meetings), if you
want,” Burkhart said.
She added the EDC is not being asked to take any action at this time.
The Del Rio City Council during its April 22 regular meeting authorized Burkhart to
renew a one-year contract with four optional one-year renewals between the city and
Volaire Aviation Inc. for aviation consulting services.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
