Studer Community Institute

Shannon's Window: Eats at the airport

February 11, 2014
/ Shannon Nickinson
/ community-dashboard

There will be something to eat at the Pensacola International Airport on April 1. It’s not clear what that will be, but it very clearly won’t be a Cuban sandwich or anything else from concessionaire Robert De Varona. The drama that evolved from -- and ended up engulfing -- the contract to provide food and beverages to travelers at the airport is on hold for the time being. Pensacola City Council rejected both the proposal for OHM -- a consortium of vendors that aimed to bring chains with name recognition among the business travel class -- and an extension of the existing contract for one year with de Varona, who has owned the concessions at the airport for 18 years. De Varona’s Feb. 3 letter offering to pay the airport $198,500 until Sept. 30 -- which matches the dollar amount offered in the rejected OHM contract pro-rated for six months -- “in the interest of airport employee job security, the traveling public, and the citizens of Pensacola during this transitional period…. ensure minimal disruption during the crucial summer tourism season.” The city’s response, via spokeswoman Tamara Fountain, is an unequivocal no thank you. “The council didn’t want to extend the contract,” she said. “They voted 6-3 not to do it. Mr. de Varona has received notice in writing that the contract will be terminated on March 31. He has 60 days from the end of the contract to remove his items.” Fountain said that Airport Director Greg Donovan, who was in Tallahassee at his professional association’s meeting, is looking at using temporary vendors at the airport once de Varona’s contract expires and until an interim plan for concessions can be crafted. Had OHM been awarded the contract, as was Mayor Ashton Hayward’s recommendation, “there was always going to be a temporary vendor in place while they did the build out of their facilities,” Fountain said. Those temporary vendors can offer a range of operations, everything from the kind of grab-and-go kiosks seen at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta to a cart or even a food stand type of set up, Fountain said. “Those are temporary contracts, and they are administratively awarded.” Fountain says that by the end of February, the city hall hopes to announce a plan for how to move forward on securing a long-term solution. Whoever saddles up for the next go-round of the Concession Carousel needs to be ready for action. Because what in other cities gets done in the course of a normal business cycle stirs people into a swivet here. If there is one thing we do well, it is swirl the personal and the professional into one powerful drink that too often is hard to swallow. I want people to come to this area from the wintry North and the mild Midwest. I want them to arrive at an airport that is clean, well-maintained, has free wifi and staffed by friendly, helpful people. I want their flights to land safely and their luggage to arrive intact and on time. That’s all I have ever wanted from an airport; and I suspect many folks feel the same way. And I want those visitors to take that luggage and go out into our city and see the sights, eat the eats and have the fun. I want them to go home happy and tell two friends. So whatever the future holds for food and beverages at the airport, I hope it includes: A clearly written RFP that focuses on getting the best financial deal for the city. Typo-free proposals brought to a fair and balanced panel. Pitches based on facts and figures, not emotion. And enough civic self-awareness to realize that if we really want to compete on a regional or national scale, we cannot be the kind of place where outsiders feel like too many hassles come with trying to business here. Like it or not, that is one of the messages that went out into the universe from the concession debate. And that’s an impression that lasts well beyond the shelf-life of a cup of shrimp and grits.

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Shannon's Window: Eats at the airport

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