By Andrew Tellijohn
The deadline for submitting a proposal to participate in Dallas-Fort Worth International’s (DFW) retail and food and beverage upgrade for terminals A, B, C, D and E passed on Friday, June 8.
Carolyn Phillips, manager of airport concessions at DFW, declined to disclose the number of proposals the airport received for its project and adds that at this time the airport has not set a firm date for announcing the winners.
“It’s a little too early,” she says.
Phillips says she wants to inform the selection committee before releasing the information publicly. She plans to meet with the committee this Thursday and then allow them to begin evaluations.
The RFP was issued on April 2. About 60 million people travel through DFW annually. Concessions sales in 2006 exceeded $205 million.
Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) has set aside $45 million to upgrade its four older terminals and $5 million for a “Visit D/FW” program that will be run by the Dallas and Fort Worth convention and visitors bureaus.
The airport will cover those costs using part of the $185 million it received from Chesapeake Energy when it sold the right to drill natural gas wells on airport land. DFW will also receive 25% of revenue from the sale of the gas.
The DFW Airport Board voted unanimously on the terminal upgrades and had one dissenter on the marketing plan, according to the Dallas Morning News. The program will market the airport in Latin America and Asia.
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief acknowledged that with the revenue stream will come demands and requests for using the money, but also suggested that DFW consider setting aside a portion for when it hits a financial dip, such as after 9/11.
“That’s one of the inherent conditions that we’re going to experience,” he told the Morning News. “But one that a lot of people would give their eyeteeth to have.”
