Commissioners pull $163,000 Dayton International Airport janitorial contract after union objections

The Dayton City Commission on 2026-06-10 pulled for further review a proposed one-year, $163,000 supplemental janitorial contract for Dayton International Airport after objections from union representatives and questions from commissioners.

Miss Dixine, the city manager, told the commission the contract is intended as supplemental deep-cleaning — "three times a week in the midnight hours" — and explicitly excludes routine daytime custodial tasks. She said the scope covers floor stripping and refinishing, carpet extraction, pressure washing and other work that is difficult to perform while the airport is operating.

Deputy Director of Aviation Dan Zank said the airport has struggled to retain janitorial staff, and that management sees retention — not cost savings — as the core issue. "Over the last two years, we've hired 25 employees to provide janitorial services. We've lost 20 of those," Zank said, adding that some hires were "no call, no show" after only a few days.

A union representative, Mr. Smith, told the commission the union "does not agree" with outsourcing the work, described past pay cuts and said the airport workforce takes "a lot of pride" in the job. He warned that even with contractual guardrails, future administrations could expand outsourced coverage. "We want the airport to be clean," the representative said. "Let us do it. Give us the opportunity to do it."

Several commissioners urged additional conversations between administration, airport management and the union. Public commenter Noah Mallister said he supported airport cleanliness but questioned whether the city should pay for outsourced night cleaning when daytime staff could be used instead: "I do agree with it, but we shouldn't spend that much money on it or we should hire more people."

Rather than approve the contract as presented, the commission voted to adopt the city manager's recommendations while excluding calendar item number two (the janitorial contract) so the issue can be revisited. The motion to exclude item two passed on a voice vote. City staff said they will return with additional information and a timeline for follow-up discussions.

Next steps: the commission directed staff to continue discussions with the union and airport management and to report back so commissioners can consider alternatives, pilot pay changes, or other retention strategies before deciding whether to move forward with the supplemental contract.