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News Article
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Q and A with Monica Lombrana
El Paso Aviation Director
Story by Timothy Roberts
Monica Lombraña, El Paso’s director of aviation, is hoping to add flights, improve airline schedules and lure more business to the airport’s industrial parks.
Like most airports, El Paso International was hard hit by the decline in air travel after Sept. 11, 2001.
And like most airports, El Paso International is feeling the effects of the recession.
But the passenger decline began well before the recession took hold and may be more difficult to turn around.
Lombraña has just completed her first year as aviation director.
She was appointed acting director in January 2009 and became permanent three months later, succeeding Pat Abeln.
She is the first woman and the first Hispanic to serve in the post, and she is also the first director hired from within the city government.
Lombraña, 44, is a graduate of Park College at Fort Bliss and holds an MBA from Webster University in Santa Teresa, N.M.
Lombraña had worked on airport issues since 2002 when she became an airport program manager, managing the airport’s capital improvement plan.
She recently sat down with El Paso Inc. to talk about rising ticket fees, economic development and something to support the word “international” in the airport’s name.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge in your first year?
The biggest challenge is the same challenge that other airports are facing, and that’s the economy.
There was a downturn in the economy and both business and leisure travelers cut their budgets. That affected our traffic numbers, and that in turn affects all our revenue numbers.
Q: El Paso’s passenger numbers peaked in 2006. It looks like you got hit before the recession.
The aviation industry got hit before the recession with high fuel prices. The aviation industry was really feeling an impact before the rest of the country did.
In 2006 we had 3.4-million passengers. And we were relatively flat in 2007. In 2008 our numbers dropped because of the high fuel prices.
Q: Why did it level off in 2007?
I don’t know why it remained level. I can’t think of anything in 2006 or 2007 that would have caused the numbers to stay level.
But it wasn’t until 2005 that we recovered from 9/11 and returned to 2000 levels.
Q: What has the passenger decline done to airport revenue?
We have applied for an increase in the passenger facility charge from the current $3 per ticket to $4.50. The money is used exclusively for capital projects like terminal improvements, a new taxiway and the extension of a runway.
That will make up a $600,000-per-year drop in revenue from the passenger fee. The higher fee will remain in place until 2014. We’re one of the last airports in the country to ask for the higher fee. Many other airports are raising their fees to $7.
Q: How are the security lines today?
The lines are the same as they were before Christmas Day (when a terrorist’s attempt to blow up a plane landing in Detroit was thwarted by passengers and crew).
We haven’t seen any significant difference. There has not been a change here in TSA procedures. The biggest change has been in regards to international flights coming into the U.S. All of our flights are domestic flights. But that’s TSA. That’s not us.
Q: But you get the complaints, right?
Yes. We get the complaints, and we turn them right around and send them to the TSA.
Q: What about cargo? It looks like it declined after 9/11 and hasn’t picked back up.
It certainly hasn’t picked back up to the pre-9/11 figures. It has a lot to do with the move of a number of maquiladoras from the border to the interior of Mexico.
Our numbers did rise but the increase stopped with the increase in fuel costs. It was picking up in 2005 and 2006. But then in 2008 the higher fuel prices had their effect. And then in 2009 the auto industry troubles affected our industry.
Nationally cargo was down 24 percent. But we have noticed that within the last two months freight has picked up again.
Q: Passenger travel at El Paso increased in October.
Yes, October was the first time in 2009 that we actually saw an increase. In November we were also up 4.4 percent. We ended the year down 7.3 percent. We were expecting to be down 9 percent to 13 percent. So we are ending the year better than what we had expected.
Q: When will El Paso get an international flight?
We have retained an air services development consultant to help us with that. We will be attending an air services conference and plan to meet with Aeromexico and Mexicana and try to get a flight back into Mexico. That is certainly something that is on my agenda.
It is one of my goals to get that back. We have not had an international flight since 2006.
Q: What was the last international flight?
Aeromexico to Chihuahua.
Q: What happened to that flight?
Because we have the Juárez airport that is directly across the border, it is very easy for people to just drive across and fly straight out of Juárez. It may also have been the schedule. We want to attract a flight back into Mexico, but we definitely would look at the schedule.
For example, if the flight was into Mexico City, it should be possible to go and come in the same day. We would look for an early morning departure and then a return flight in the late evening.
Q: What about other domestic flights?
With Fort Bliss we have a lot of defense contractors flying in and out.
One of the first non-stop flights we are looking at is one to Washington, D.C. We believe we have the numbers there that would justify that.
Q: What is the model for this airport? Is it to be a gateway to Mexico? Or a Tucson or a Phoenix?
We’re not trying to be anybody else. We want to move not only passengers but also goods and services.
We are in a unique position in that we are located right next to Mexico. When we do our master planning and our development we look at not only the air cargo but how it can connect locally.
What we are looking at is becoming an intermodal hub, so that we provide not only the air cargo services but make it easy for the ground transportation.
So that when it arrives in El Paso it is easy to move it to its final destination, whether that be Mexico across the border or Houston or even California.
We are the same distance from the Port of Houston as we are to the Port of Long Beach. We have the largest air cargo facility along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Obviously in the development that we do, we want to provide the air services because first and foremost we are an airport.
But we also need to provide the intermodal connections. As an example, we contributed $10 million to the Inner Loop road project.
It was very obvious to us that having that kind of connectivity is a vital component of our transportation because once cargo reaches the ground, it has to go somewhere.
Now the Inner Loop connects to Loop 375, and Loop 375 is a direct connection to the Zaragosa Bridge. So we have that direct connection from the airport to the international bridge.
Q: Are you also working on an intermodal terminal?
Not so much an intermodal terminal because we already have air cargo service. We do have rail coming into our Butterfield Trail Industrial Park.
Now that we have a mobility services deputy city manager, who oversees the bridges, the airport, mass transit and the streets, any development we do is coordinated with the entire region.
So, for instance, we are reserving space at the airport for light rail. If El Paso ever gets light rail, we want to make sure it runs to the airport.
Q: What is the status of the capital improvement program?
Now we are in the middle of a major renovation in addition to the terminal itself. That’s a nearly $50-million project.
We are adding services such as more hold room space, (where passengers wait to board a plane), more restrooms, more concessions, food beverages and gifts.
On the airfield we are working on the extension of runway 8R-26L (the runway that runs parallel to the terminal). So we are extending that. It’s 9,025 feet, and we are extending that by 1,100 feet to the east to make more room to park planes at the gates.
Q: What is the status of the 150-acre industrial park expansion?
We have completed the infrastructure on that. The streets are complete, street lighting is in. The underground utilities are all there.
We are partnering with Economic Development and trying to attract a master developer for the entire 150 acres. It’s ready to be leased.
In November we had a meeting in which we invited all the local developers. And we had some out-of-town developers. We did that to let them know that this land was available for immediate leasing. We wanted to present to them what it is we had to offer.
Economic Development did a presentation on what the city can offer as far as incentives.
And then we had REDCo make its presentation on the impact that the expansion of Fort Bliss is having on the city and the region. We believe that is very important given that we are situated right adjacent to Fort Bliss.
As part of the Inner Loop project, we are extending Global Reach Drive to a direct entrance into Fort Bliss. So there will be an entrance directly into Fort Bliss that traverses airport property and that goes right by that industrial park.
That industrial park has a great location, not only because of its proximity to Fort Bliss, but because of the connectivity that the Inner Loop and Loop 375 provide.
Q: What is the next big thing for the airport?
We have visited with United Airlines. We are going to visit with Southwest. At the conference we hope to touch base with the remainder of our current airlines.
Our intent is to show that El Paso as a whole is a very exciting place. Fort Bliss is growing by leaps and bounds. And we now have a four-year medical school here in El Paso.
This is all-important information for our airlines’ corporate headquarters to know. And to know about the growth that El Paso is expecting.
Our goal is always to obtain more service for our passengers. And to get more non-stop flights out of El Paso. When you have more flights it fosters competition and that means better fares.
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