Denver Board of Ethics investigating flight prices for Denver International Airport executives' trip

Denver's independent Board of Ethics is investigating the purchase of business and first-class tickets this past April for nine Denver International Airport executives to fly to a conference in Madrid, according to three sources aware of the ongoing investigation.

The probe was sparked by a CBS News Colorado investigation in May that revealed the airport spent as much as $19,000 for one of its executives to fly to the three-day conference. Another ticket cost about $16,000. 

All of the executives flew either business class or first class to the conference and back to Denver. "Our policy allows us to do that," said Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington.

Travel websites showed round-trip tickets from Denver to Madrid cost as little as $1,300, and upgraded seats in premium economy sold for about $3,000.

"Those costs may seem high," said Washington, but, he said, "they are an investment in our people. We sent who we sent, and they are going to pay dividends as we build out this infrastructure."

But the spending elicited widespread criticism, which made its way to the Board of Ethics, according to CBS Colorado sources, who said the board was querying whether the spending amounted to using public money for private gain. 

Lori Weiser, the executive director for the Board of Ethics, said she could not comment on any board investigations. "The Denver Code of Ethics prohibits public disclosure of any complaint that has been received," wrote Weiser, "until it passes through a screening process, and an investigation process, if the Board requests investigation."

In 2024, the board received 78 cases and issued 13 advisory opinions. 

Washington did not provide any comment about the ethics investigation.

His own employees raised ethical concerns about the trip, saying it created a "rift" between executives and lower-level employees.

The CBS Colorado report prompted Washington and his staff to reevaluate airport employees' travel policy.  On Aug. 1, the airport completed an updated travel policy that addressed some of the issues spotlighted in the original CBS Colorado investigation.

• While nine executives traveled to the Madrid conference, the new policy states "No more than two members per division (...) should be traveling to the same out-of-state meeting or conference, unless prior approval is received."
• For the Spain trip, every traveler flew back to Denver on either business class or first class, even though they arrived back in Denver on a Friday and had the weekend to recuperate before going back to work. The new policy specifies, "Business Class will not be booked on flights returning to DEN unless the traveler will be reporting to work upon arrival or, when the flight arrives after work hours, on the following calendar day."
• While the Spain conference started on April 8, the Denver executives arrived in Madrid 24 hours earlier, on April 7. The aviation conference ended on the afternoon of April 10, but none of the Denver airport executives left until April 11. The revised policy now specifies "Authorized travel period for conference/event attendance may not exceed arrival more than the day prior to event or departure more than the day after the event's conclusion (...) Any additional time will be considered personal time off and resulting expenses will not be reimbursable nor paid by DEN."

A spokesperson for Washington said he "doesn't have anything to add" regarding the new travel policy.

The total cost of the Madrid trip was about $165,000 and was paid for out of Denver International Airport revenues, which are derived from what passengers pay for concessions, parking fees, rental car revenues, and other user fees.