Business View Magazine | October 2020

174 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 At that time of year, we would see anywhere between 1,000-1,500 passengers; the worst day had 18 passengers. So, it was hugely devastating on us and the whole aviation community. As May progressed, numbers stayed less than 100 passengers a day – mostly emergency and essential travel folks.” “In June,” Esterly continues, “the State of Texas opened up, and we saw a significant bump in passengers; we were anywhere from 150-250, and by July, we were seeing the numbers moving up continuously, to where we were in August, up to 400-450 passengers. So, we went from 93 percent down, compared to the year before, to probably around 60 percent down at our best. As September rolls around, we’re seeing a slight decline, but September is typically a slower part of the year for us. The recovery that we saw in June and July seemed to plateau pretty quickly with the additional surge in the number of cases throughout the country. So, the recovery stalled at that point.” With business being down as much as it has been, Esterly reports that the Airport took measures to assist all of its business partners and tenants. “We implemented a new program that very few airports nationwide did,” he explains, “because we thought it was very important to support these businesses and to make sure that they make it through this downturn. That program is still up and running; every three months we monitor it. We’re looking at the recovery rate and we’ll make adjustments along the way. Hopefully, as the recovery comes, the rental income will come back, as well.” “Valley International Airport is also a little different than a lot of other airports out there in that we have the means to do it,” he adds. “We pride ourselves on being debt-free and we also had operating reserves – we always keep at least six months of capital on hand in case something like this ever happens. No one really imagined something like this, but it was a good thing that we stuck to our guns and always did this