The current Automobile Rental Concession Leases to operate car rental concessions at the Billings Logan International Airport are set to expire March 31, 2011.  The current on-Airport car rental concessionaires are: Hertz, Enterprise, Alamo/National, and Thrifty/Dollar.  In order to determine interest in and commitment to new leases for operating car rental concessions at the Airport, and to assist in the sizing/design of and funding for the new Quick Turn Around Facility (QTA) that the Airport is building for use by the on-Airport car rental companies, the car rental concession opportunity at the Airport was placed out for bid early.  In the past, only four concession spots were available for car rental companies at the Airport.  Along with the new QTA, the Airport made a fifth concession spot available in this bid process by renovating several of the former airline freight offices (located on the west end of the baggage claim area) into a car rental concession counter.

A Request for Bids (RFB) was prepared for concessionaires interested in operating at the Airport.  On September 13, 2010, the City Council awarded five new Automobile Rental Concession Leases to Hertz, Enterprise, Alamo/National, Thrifty/Dollar, and Avis/Budget.  The term of the new Leases will commence on April 1, 2011 and end on March 31, 2016.  With the new Leases and a fifth available position, Avis/Budget will return its car rental operations to the Terminal Building, after being outbid during the previous bid process.  

At the time the new Lease with Avis/Budget was signed, the exact square footage of the new car rental concession counter space was not known, but was estimated at 329 square feet.  The plans and specifications for that construction have now been completed and an accurate square footage determined.  Amendment One revises the square footage for the new car rental concession counter space that Avis/Budget will occupy, from the estimated 329 square feet to the actual 423 square feet and amends the same information on Exhibit A - the Terminal Space layout for all of the car rental concession counters.  

Construction is underway and will be completed in time for Avis/Budget to begin its on-Airport operations on April 1, 2011.

  

The City Council may:

• Approve Amendment One to  the Automobile Rental Concession Lease with Avis/Budget; or
• Not approve Amendment One to the Automobile Rental Concession Lease with Avis/Budget.
   

The car rental concession counter space in the Terminal Building to be occupied by Avis/Budget will generate $4,795.77 for the three-month period beginning April 1, 2011 and ending June 30, 2011.  The Terminal Building lease rate is adjusted each July 1 for the airlines, and this rate is also applied to the rental car companies having counter space in the Terminal Building.  Staff is presently working on calculating the new rate beginning July 1, 2011, but anticipates that the annual lease revenues will be approximately $20,000.

Staff recommends that the City Council approve Amendment One to the Automobile Rental Concession Lease with Avis/Budget.