Lincoln Airport to Again Provide Subsidy to Concessions Provider
Dec. 6—When the Lincoln Airport hired a new concessions company last year, one of the reasons was because not only would it no longer have to provide a subsidy, but the company promised to pay the airport more than $50,000 during its first year in operation.
However, that was before the coronavirus pandemic, which has reduced passenger traffic by more than 80% over the past eight months.
Because of that, the concessions company, Tailwind Concessions, is now seeking its own subsidy to help keep operations afloat.
On Thursday, the Lincoln Airport Authority voted unanimously to approve a monthly subsidy for Tailwind of up to $6,000 a month.
Airport Executive Director David Haring said the company had done everything possible to try to reduce expenses enough to at least break even but found it impossible to do so with about 20,000 fewer passengers per month than normal passing through the airport over the past several months.
While he said Tailwind has not threatened to shut down its Lincoln operations without the subsidy, "I think that's the likely scenario."
Haring noted that the subsidy is only temporary and will be regularly revisited, with either the company or the airport able to end it with 30 days' notice.
Haring also said that the subsidy is one of the approved uses of the more than $5 million in federal pandemic assistance the airport received, and it's actually less than the approximately $8,000 a month it was providing to the previous company that Tailwind replaced.
PHOTOFILES: MILITARY INSTALLATIONS ACROSS NEBRASKA
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or [email protected].
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.
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