On January 22, 2019, Frontier Airlines announced that they would be starting service to Billings from Denver.  This service would be on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday beginning May 30, 2019, on an Airbus A-320 with 186 seats.  When determining what ticket counter space that Frontier would operate out of, the only available space was a ticket counter space that had a very short que area, which would not accommodate an airline with a 186 seat aircraft.  The Airport approached Cape Air, which operates aircraft with 9 seats, to discuss moving their ticket counter operations to the available ticket counter with the shorter que area.  This Amendment One reflects the new space that Cape Air will operate out of, so that Frontier can utilize the ticket counter with the larger que area.  Additionally, the term of the Agreement was set to expire on June 30, 2019, so this Amendment extends the term until March 31, 2020 to coincide with the approximate date of the Terminal Expansion project that will require the relocation of the airlines on the concourse during the construction process.  Between now and March 31, 2020, the Airport and the airlines will negotiate an interim agreement for the construction period that will address the concourse space use issues during the Terminal Expansion project.  An amendment with all the other airlines is in the works to also extend their agreement term to March 31, 2020.

City Council may:

• Approve Amendment One to the Scheduled Airline Operating Agreement and Terminal Building Lease with Cape Air; or
• Disapprove Amendment One to the Scheduled Airline Operating Agreement and Terminal Building Lease with Cape Air and provide direction to staff on how to proceed.

The ticket counter space that Cape Air will be moving into is eight square feet less than their old lease space, so this amounts to an annual decrease in lease rentals of $361.28.  However, this decrease is offset by the new revenue the City will receive from Frontier Airlines when they lease the ticket counter area vacated by Cape Air.  It is estimated that the total annual revenues (including the ticket counter space) the City will receive from Frontier Airlines will be approximately $185,000.