DEN airlines have warned that rising costs could severely affect their reliance on Denver as a hub for connecting flights.
Their complaint prompted a letter from DIA finance chief Patrick Heck defending the airport's budget and disclosing that "critical maintenance" had been postponed in an effort to keep costs down.
In an August 2013 letter to Heck, a committee representing the airlines expressed "a general message of concern" about the airport's 2014 budget and future budget increases once its showcase redevelopment project is completed.
"DIA is in a unique position of having three major hub carriers with close to half of the DIA traffic connecting," wrote Jeff Campbell, chairman of the Denver Airlines Airport Affairs Committee.
"This connecting activity is much less certain than origination/destination traffic, and we are concerned that if costs rise at DIA too steeply, activity may begin to drop steeply as well. This can quickly result in a cost spiral with severe consequences. We do not want to see that happen in Denver." The airlines' letter complained that DIA's 2014 budget grew 4.1 percent despite a decrease in the number of flights, and that the airport took a year-end savings of $10 million from staff vacancies and spent it elsewhere.
A financial analysis done for DIA predicted that in 2018, it will have the fifth- highest cost per enplaned passenger among 14 large airports studied. Among the airports expected to charge passengers less: IAH , LAS , DFW, PHX and SLC
A separate national analysis by aviation consultants predicted Denver airline fees will be closer to the middle among large hub airports.