Denver mayor on $19,000 Denver International Airport plane tickets: "I have not ever paid that much"
In his first comments on a CBS News Colorado investigation that found Denver International Airport executives paying between $12,000 and $19,000 to fly to a conference in Spain, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said, "I have not ever paid that much for an airplane ticket.
"I would not have the capacity to do that, no," he said.
The mayor made the comments during a wide-ranging interview with CBS News Colorado on Monday. After learning of the high dollar tickets, he said: "I share the same concerns. That's a very big number and that's not the way most Denverites would expect to travel."
The CBS Colorado broadcast report in May found nine top executives at the airport, including airport CEO Phil Washington, flew to a three-day aviation conference in Madrid in April, flying first or business class every leg of the trip. One of the tickets cost over $19,000 while another was just under $16,000. Some of the other tickets cost around $12,000.
Washington said at the time, "Our policy allows us to do that. The policy allows that, so we took advantage of that."
The airport travel policy allows Denver International Airport employees to fly upgraded classes of service for flights over 8 hours.
The trip cost about $165,000, including hotels, meals and conference fees, or about $18,000 per traveler.
But the public reaction to the cost of the tickets was swift and angry. In October, Denver's Board of Ethics cleared Washington of any ethics violations but the board said it was "appalled by both the amount of funds that were expended for this conference and by Mr. Washington's seemingly cavalier attitude in responding to this complaint. While a violation of the Denver Code of Ethics is not proven by clear and convincing evidence," wrote the board, "the conduct here falls short of the Board's basic expectations and erodes the confidence of the citizens of the City and County of Denver that persons in positions of public power are acting for the benefit of the city's best interests."
Johnston said he had spoken to Washington about the trip.
"We had a conversation about it," said the mayor.
"I think there should be limits to what the allocations are," said Johnston. "Even though they are not taxpayer dollars, I agree with that."
The funding for the trip came from Denver International Airport revenues, which are derived from what passengers pay for concessions, parking fees, rental car revenues and other user fees.
Johnston said even if the policy allowed for the pricey flights, "It's still a very high tab. ... We should look at different ways to manage whether maximums or caps" or how far in advance tickets are purchased. He said he understood the need to "hit the ground running" when arriving at a conference, and "sitting in 23-E might not work for that and there's still a balance and it doesn't have to be $19,000."
Since the CBS Colorado investigation, Denver International Airport has altered its staff travel policy, limiting the number of executives traveling to the same out-of-state conference to two and placing restrictions on flying back to Denver in first or business class.