Parking revenue falls at Bob Hope Airport

By Mark Kellam

March 6, 2012 12 AM PT

Income from parking fees took a nose dive at Bob Hope Airport in January, dropping about 6.2% compared to the same period last year, according to figures released this week.

Parking fees — an important revenue source — generated $1.5 million for the airport in January, down from roughly $1.6 million during the same month last year, according to a Monday report to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.

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For the Record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the figure for January 2011 as being “nearly $2 million.”

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At the same time, the number of passengers using the airfield continued to slide, decreasing by 2.2%.

“Something is different in the way the parking patron is behaving,” said airport spokesman Victor Gill.

Two possible explanations, he said, are that passengers are parking in less expensive lots or are having someone drive them to the airport — or a combination of both.

There was also a drop in valet parking in January, said Dan Feger, the airport’s executive director.

Parking revenues, which make up about 40% of the airfield’s operating revenues, have been declining steadily during the past several months.

The airport handled 333,530 passengers in January, down from 340,954 in January 2011, which was under budget projections.

During its last full month at the airport, American Airlines reported a nearly 29% decline in tickets sold, from 23,792 passengers in January 2011 to 16,902 this past January.

American pulled out of Bob Hope Airport on Feb. 9.

The airfield’s largest tenant, Southwest, reported an almost 3% drop in passengers, decreasing from 229,736 in January 2011 to 222,897 the same period this year.

U.S. Airways, meanwhile, saw a more than 62% jump in its passenger tally, from 10,801 to 17,574.

Available seats were basically unchanged in January in the year-to-year comparison, holding steady at around 523,900.

However, the overall occupancy rate for all airlines at the airport dipped from 65% in January 2011 to 63.7% this year.