Business View Magazine | December 2019

186 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 AT A GLANCE THE DES MOINES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHAT: A commercial and general aviation airport WHERE: Des Moines, Iowa WEBSITE: www.FlyDSM.com Airport in 1986, to acknowledge the presence of a United States Customs Service office on property, and in 1993, the Des Moines International Airport Board was established for the purpose of governing the operation of the Airport. The city retains ownership of the land but transferred title to all property and equipment to the public authority. In turn, the authority has agreed to a 99-year lease on the land. The Airport employs a staff of 58, and according to a 2014 economic impact study, generates $644 million in annual economic output. “We know it’s much higher than that, today, in large part because our passenger traffic is much higher than it was in 2014,” says Executive Director, Kevin Foley. “We have six flag airlines coming in and out; we have all three levels of air service, today. We have the three legacy carriers –American, Delta, and United; we have one low-cost carrier – Southwest; and then we have two ultra-low-cost carriers –Allegiant and Frontier. So, we’re pretty well situated as far as the levels of air service that we have.” Regarding competition with nearby commercial airports, Foley relates, “We just completed a market study, or what’s otherwise known in the industry as a ‘leakage’ study. Within a 90- mile radius, we retain 70 percent of all of the traffic that we should have in this market.