A request for proposals sent out by the city for fixed base operator (FBO) services at Kickapoo Airport left some tenants with more questions than answers.
An FBO provides a variety of services for an airport, including fueling, parking, aircraft maintenance and office management.
The city, which currently provides FBC services for Kickapoo, is considering outsourcing these services to a private company.
The request for quotations (RFQ) was sent out March 2 with bids due by April 2.
Transportation and Aviation Director John Burrus said the move is part of the strategic planning of the city to provide services more efficiently.
During planning sessions, he said, the city set out to review services and privatize or outsource some services if doing so would be beneficial.
The switch to a private FBO company, instead of the city running Kickapoo, is not a “done deal,” Burrus said, but it is under consideration.
“If it benefits the city and tenants, then we will do it. If not, then we won’t,” he said.
Kickapoo Airport is about 149 acres with 38 city-owned hangars, 30 privately-owned hangars with about 90 aircraft housed there.
An email was sent March 12 by Bill Smith – a Kickapoo hangar tenant – to dozens of co-tenants.
“I just found out about this RFP a few days ago myself and have read through it and have some serious concerns with it, as do several other individuals at Kickapoo who rent or own hangars,” the email reads.
A group met March 15 to discuss the issue and created a list of two dozen questions they had for the city. Those questions were sent to Burrus, other city staff and the city council.
One of the questions from the group asks " Why were members of the Kickapoo Airport community never contacted about such a significant change to airport operations?"
Burrus contends there was an email sent to all Kickapoo tenants explaining what was happening before the RFQ was posted for FBO services.
For the other questions, Burrus said staff is finalizing answers which will be posted online shortly.
Smith iterates that he is not against privatization of FBO services – if it is done correctly.
He is concerned, he said Monday, that in the bid, the new operating company seems to get all the potential gain while the city gets stuck with the bills.
He said a private FBO does not always mean higher prices for the tenants, but in his experience, private FBOs can mean more expensive rent and fuel.
As an example, Smith said he used to rent a hangar at the Wichita Falls Regional Airport. After a private group took over, fuel was a dollar more than at Kickapoo and rent crept up 20 percent.
Smith owns a single-engine plane and provides instruction in other aircraft at Kickapoo. He has rented a hangar at the airport for about five years.
“The way they wrote it, they are going to lose,” he said.
Smith said Kickapoo is doing well under the city, even though there could be improvements.
Smith said he usually sees only one person running everything at Kickapoo.
At least three times recently, he said, he’s called several hours ahead to get a plane taken out of the hangar only to arrive and it has not been done.
Smith said the city does not keep enough staff on board at the airport to provide adequate services at times.
Burrus said the city has turned a profit at Kickapoo, in part, by being conservative on staffing while trying to keep fuel prices low.
He said no tenants came to him with complaints about the airport until this RFQ was made public.
Where they go in the future, Burrus said, will depend on the proposals they get back from this RFQ.
Burrus said he wrote this RFQ, piecing together four similar bids for FBOs in nearby regions.
What the city is asking is not much different than deals that are working well for other airports, he said.
“If we had been providing the level of customer service we should have been, we wouldn’t be in this position. We’ve not hit that mark," he said. “We should be striving for excellence, and we’ve not met that level.
"If the city decides to keep (doing FBO services), it’s going to be a learning process.”
In the end, Burrus said is comes down to whether the private sector or the city can provide the best services for Kickapoo.
Bids for FBO services are due April 2 and a bid will be considered by staff and city council later.