Airport Commission

PATRICK LEAHY BURLINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BOARD OF AIRPORT COMMISSIONERS MINUTES OF MEETING June 3, 2026 Location: Large Conference Room (Room 337) Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, Third Floor 1200 Airport Drive, South Burlington, VT 05403 [Hybrid meeting] MEMBERS PRESENT: Tim George, Chair Chip Mason Andrew Savage Helen Riehle Robin Guillian Al Turkos MEMBERS ABSENT: Jeff Schulman, Vice Chair BTV STAFF PRESENT: Nicolas Longo, Director of Aviation Larry Lackey, Director of Planning, Engineering & Sustainability Jesse Sprague, Executive Assistant Dave Carman, Deputy Director – Airport Operations Marie Friedman, Director of Finance Madison Reagan, Environmental Compliance and Project Manager Jeffrey Bartley, Director of Innovation and Marketing Ara Hagan, Hagen Marketing Alexandra Cohen, Marketing Assistant Jillian Waite, Office Assistant OTHERS PRESENT: CCTV 1.0 Call to Order 1.1 Call to Order Airport Commission Chair, Tim George, called the meeting to order at 4:02 P.M. 1.2 Acknowledgement of Remote Commissioners  Commissioners attending the meeting remotely identified themselves (Robin Guillian, Al Turkos, Andrew Savage, Chip Mason) 2.0 Agenda 2.1 Approve/Adopt Agenda MOTION by Helen Riehle , SECOND by Chip Mason, to approve the agenda as presented. VOTING: unanimous (6-0), motion carried. 3.0 Public Forum 3.1 Public Forum 3.1.1 No members of the public present 4.0 Consent agenda: 4.1 Approval of the minutes MOTION by Helen Riehle, SECOND by Al Turkos, to approve the minutes as presented in the agenda packet, including Minutes from the April 28, 2026 meeting. VOTING: unanimous (6-0); motion carried. 5.0 Action Items 5.1 Jones Payne Group Lease 5.1.1 MOTION by Helen Riehle, SECOND by Al Turkos to approve the memo as presented DISCUSSION led by Madison Reagan: 1. The Airport request in the memo is to sign a lease for office space with the Jones Payne Group at 481 White Street. This new space will allow Jones Payne to be more accessible to the public. This space will bring additional revenue to the Airport at a building that has been vacant, and it will allow Jones Payne more space to display their products related to the Residential Sound Insulation Program. VOTING: unanimous (6-0); motion carried. 5.2 Pratt and Whitney Lease 5.2.1 MOTION by Helen Riehle, SECOND by Al Turkos to approve the memo as presented VOTING: unanimous (6-0); motion carried. DISCUSSION led by Director of Aviation Nic Longo: 1. The Airport seeks to sign a lease with Pratt and Whitney Engine Services (Pratt and Whitney). As an existing tenant, Pratt and Whitney would like to improve their space and renovate it for their current operations and to sign a new lease that allows them to improve the building. Rental rates per square foot are standardized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Airport is allowed to incorporate market value and costs of building improvements into the rental rates of tenants. VOTING: unanimous (6-0); motion carried. 5.3 Hangar Condo Association Lease 5.3.1 MOTION by Helen Riehle, SECOND by Robin Guillian to approve the memo as presented DISCUSSION led by Director of Aviation Nic Longo: . 1. The Airport seeks to sign a lease amendment with Hangar Condo Association (HCA) to provide a new expiration date and to commit HCA to timelines with building improvements. The Airport Commission already approved a different version of this amendment; however, this agreement has  significantly different terms, so this request is coming again to the Airport Commission. 2. Details include: ten year lease with ten year commitment. Standard rental rates are followed on the ground underneath the building 3. Director Longo showed the location on the map and described that the Airport would be responsible to relocate the tenant if the Airport needed to do so, as provided by the lease. VOTING: unanimous (6-0); motion carried. 5.4 OLDCC Funded Construction and Consultant Contracts with Strong Tower and Jones Payne Group 5.4.1 MOTION by Helen Riehle, SECOND by Al Turkos to approve the memo as presented VOTING: unanimous (6-0); motion carried. DISCUSSION led by Director of Planning, Engineering, and Sustainability: 1. The Airport seeks to sign a construction contract with Strong Tower Construction and a consultant contract with Jones Payne for the purpose of completing Phase 6 of the Residential Sound Insulation Program (RSIP). This project is funded by the grant from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) which was previously approved by the Airport Commission. This grant will pay Strong Tower and Jones Payne as agreed upon in the contracts. VOTING: unanimous (6-0); motion carried. 5.5 Request for approval to sign a utility easement with Green Mountain Power 5.5.1 MOTION by Helen Riehle, SECOND by Al Turkos to approve the memo as presented VOTING: unanimous (6-0); motion carried. DISCUSSION led by Director of Aviation Nic Longo: 2. The Airport seeks to sign an easement with Green Mountain Power (GMP). This easement supports one of the construction projects for a new hangar at the Airport. This easement is essential to the maintenance of the project. This is a standard easement from Green Mountain Power. VOTING: unanimous (6-0); motion carried 6.0 Innovation and Marketing Quarterly Update 6.1 In addition to the written construction update provided to the Airport Commission, Director Bartley and Ara Hagan highlighted the following updates: 6.1.1 The Innovation and Marketing team was active at the Statehouse in Montpelier this past year. The legislature was considering an increase in state jet fuel taxes, and the Airport advocated against this increase. This language has been taken out of the transportation bill. 6.1.2 The Airport is applying for a Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASP) to start air service to Myrtle Bean and Savannah Georgia. 6.1.3 Leahy BTV is signing a contract with Departure Media 6.1.4 Leahy BTV has received an Airport Terminal Grant; $100,000 to fund installation of ADA accessible lactation pods and $150,000 to fund the construction of a children’s play area in the terminal. 6.1.5 Ara Hagan, of Hagan Marketing, presented on the airport’s marketing campaigns, internet marketing data, new website, and the collaboration with Hello Burlington. 6.1.6 Director Bartley explained that the partnership with Hello Burlington to market together for the same demographic rather than competing for advertisements, driving the costs up. Each destination has a different market and demographic, so  each airline has a different demographic that advertising is meant to reach. Key demographics include age, leisure travelers, and families. 6.1.7 Marketing benchmarks are driven by data, with regard to travel industry benchmarks specific to airline specific industry trends, followed by state travel trends. With current marketing campaigns, these trends and past campaigns inform future marketing efforts by Leahy BTV. 6.1.8 Hagan marketing is researching how much money travelers are spending in Vermont when they are here to inform the value of adding specific routes to Leahy BTV’s options. 6.1.9 Commission Chair Tim George asked to clarify the statements regarding taxes collected from jet fuel purchases at the Airport. Director Longo answered that, at a state level, the taxes collected at Leahy BTV primarily are spent at state airports because the state returns a maximum of $500,000 to Leahy BTV, while the total collection of jet fuel taxes by the state should total much higher than the amount received. All funds must be returned to an aviation program. The legislature will not be passing a transportation budget that includes a 2% raise in jet fuel taxes. The current rate is 6% at the state level; there is an additional local option tax of 1%. The current regulations at the state level say that these funds must match Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants; however, the federal law allows these funds to be used for either capital or operating expenses. The airport requested that this language match the federal language because the Airport may not draw down on AIP grants every year. This allows the flexibility to receive and use these funds if the Airport does not take out AIP grants. 7.0 Construction Update 7.1 Construction Update, L. Lackey 7.1.1 In addition to the written construction update provided to the Airport Commission, Director Lackey highlighted the following updates: 1. Cargo Apron Grant has come in; this grant came in earlier than expected, so the contract will begin this year and wrap up in 2027. 2. The Airport is awaiting proposals for the funding for the Snow Removal Equipment (SRE) Building 3. The Capital Improvement Program will ideally be completed in August this year. The Airport will be pausing requests for entitlement funds so that we can save them for the consolidated deicing pad in the future. 4. The area of the concourse that previously housed gates 3-6 is fully demolished. This project will be wrapped up in the next 1.5 months 5. The FAA is reviewing the Obstruction Removal Project 8.0 Residential Sound Insulation Program Updates 8.1 Residential Sound Insulation Updates, L. Lackey 8.1.1 In addition to the written update provided to the Airport Commission, Director Lackey highlighted the following 1. Phase 4 is complete 2. Phase 5 has construction ongoing 3. Phase 6 – contracts approved in this meeting to proceed Jeff Bartley, Alexandra Cohen, and Dave Carman left the meeting at 4:54pm 4. The FAA is reviewing the $2.5 Million grant for the obstruction removal project to start next year 9.0 Financial Update, M. Friedman 9.1 In addition to the written financial update provided to the Airport Commission, Director Friedman highlighted the following updates: 1. The Airport Grant Anticipation Note (GAN) expires on June 30th. The Airport is working with the City’s Department of Finance and Administration to renew the GAN on June 30th. The Airport plans to keep its GAN loan amount at $10 Million for fiscal year 2027. 2. The Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) application has been presented to the airlines. The airlines have thirty days to comment on the application. The airport will submit the PFC Application #10 to the FAA once the comment period has passed. 3. The Airport does not owe the City any money. At the end of each week, the Airport pays its bills owed to the City. Bills include fees for services, such as the City Attorney, payroll services, etc. 10.0 Director’s Update 10.1 Director’s Update In addition to the written presentation, Director Longo reported: 10.1.1 The previous location of gates 3-6 has been demolished (pictures shown) 10.1.2 Leahy BTV participated in Green Up Day to clean up the local community 10.1.3 Director Longo reported statistics regarding data in the parking garage to show how full the garage is daily in 2026 by month and the ratio of Canadian to US parking. Very few cars with Canadian license plates are parking in the garage. 10.1.4 The Senate Transportation Committee visited the Airport, as pictured in the report, and the inaugural Houston flight departed and arrived in Burlington on May 23 with United Airlines. This will be a seasonal flight 10.1.5 Director Longo paused the meeting to watch the historic flight of a BETA Technologies aircraft; an eVTOL (electrical vehicle takeoff and landing) aircraft completed its first vertical landing at Leahy BTV. 10.1.6 There are over 100,000 scheduled seats this coming October; this is over 10,000 more seats that had been scheduled compared to last October, which broke records at the Airport for passenger numbers. 10.1.7 Presented passenger numbers show that projections are typically higher than the actual passenger number count. 10.1.8 Leahy BTV will meet with Jet Blue, along with many other airlines, at Jumpstart next week. 10.1.9 The Airport is anticipating a City Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy that would apply to the Airport. 11.0 Commissioner Items 11.1 Commissioner Items: 11.1.1 No Commissioner items. 12.0 Follow Up Items 12.1 Follow Up Items 12.1.1 Discussion on how the Airport is leveraging artificial intelligence. 1. The Airport will complete a presentation and planned conversation regarding this topic in the future. The Airport uses AI as a tool for  12.1.2 Follow up requested regarding the relationship between South Burlington taxes regarding aviation 1. Leahy BTV is having ongoing conversations with the City of South Burlington. *Al Turkos left the meeting at 5:48pm 13.0 Adjournment MOTION by Helen Riehle, SECOND by Chip Mason, to adjourn the meeting. VOTING: unanimous (5-0) ; motion carried. Meeting Adjourned at _____________ P.M. *The online meeting had difficulties with freezing due to internet connection issues throughout the meeting