Clovis airport reports 11,613 annual enplanements, details parking strain and construction updates

Airport staff reported 11,613 enplanements for the year — an 11% decrease from the prior year — and said December was the airport’s busiest month on record with 1,600 paying enplanements.

Airport staff member Amanda Brundart told the board December was up about 40% from the previous December and that the airline’s accounting distinguishes paying passengers (the 1,600 enplanements) from nonrevenue passengers; she described total seats occupied (paying and nonpaying combined) for the busiest period but the transcript’s combined-seat figure was not clearly recorded.

Brundart said the year’s drop in enplanements reflected construction and periods in which smaller aircraft were used; she also computed a three-year average of roughly 12,430 enplanements. "We still met our 10,000 enplanement" threshold for entitlements, she said, and characterized the overall trend as positive.

Holiday parking overflow generated operational strain. Staff created a temporary overflow lot near the airport entrance and borrowed a bus from a local carrier to shuttle passengers; employees reported double parking and vehicles in undesignated areas. Brundart said staff received a small number of complaints but largely succeeded in transporting passengers via shuttle to and from the terminal.

Fuel sales figures reported by staff included Avgas of about 39,532 gallons (Avgas sales figure stated in transcript as "39,000 gallons, 532") and Jet A sales of 417,819 gallons; staff said 26,000 gallons of the Jet A total were for the airline, with the remainder transient. Fuel sales were down from the previous year, which staff attributed in part to weather and spring winds.

Staff reported being down two employees in the FBO: an FBO attendant left before Christmas and a maintenance technician resigned recently. The airport is recruiting for both positions and has interviews scheduled.

Terminal construction is generally on schedule, staff said, but crews have encountered mismatched water-line plans and repeated breaks in old water lines. Brundart described locating and repairing the lines as a "where’s Waldo" challenge; water has been intermittently shut off during repairs but staff reported no major schedule setbacks beyond the water-line work.

The airport continues to operate a rental-car service through Enterprise, which staff said has been used and averaged about two to three vehicle rentals per week, with occasional peak days. Staff also said the planned repiping and self-service fuel pump upgrade is on hold pending replacement of old tanks; lead time for new tanks was described as six to eight weeks and staff estimated eight to 12 weeks to secure a funding and schedule decision.

Board members asked about Denver Air’s contract; staff said two years remain on the carrier’s contract.

No formal action was taken on these operational items at the meeting; they were presented as staff reports.