Increases to the parking rates at Flagstaff Pulliam Airport took another step toward approval last month as the City of Flagstaff鈥檚 Airport Commission voted to forward the proposal to Flagstaff City Council.
During the commission鈥檚 May 8 meeting, three commissioners from the seven-person commission voted in favor of the proposed increases originally presented by airport staff in January. Though Commissioners Andrew Shouse and Kolby White voted against accepting the rate increases as presented, support from Thomas Waddell, Robert Hanovich and David Steiner landed the vote at 3-2, with two commissioners, Gail Jackson and Robert Carpenter, not present.
Before discussing the plan and holding the vote, airport director Brian Gall provided some additional details commission members requested in January regarding the trends in the utilization of the airport鈥檚 terminal and economy parking lots, as well as enplanements since the paid parking system began in July 2023. In 2024, 66% of customers parked in the terminal lot, which consists of approximately 380 spaces and is the original lot located closer to the terminal building. The remaining 34% parked in the newly constructed economy lot, which holds approximately 413 spaces.
Though 60% of passenger traffic originates from outside of Flagstaff, enplanements increased from 2023 to 2024 as the paid parking system was in effect and the airport鈥檚 data could reflect a return to operating with a single carrier. With United Airlines suspending its service between Flagstaff and Denver in October 2022, Flagstaff Pulliam Airport dropped from a total of 90,552 enplanements in 2022 to 72,494 in 2023. The number shifted back up to 77,507 in 2024, the airport鈥檚 highest enplanement total with service from a single carrier, for an increase of 7% between the two years.
Through the first quarter of 2025, enplanements were up 11% from the first quarter of 2024, thanks in part to a 24% increase in March.
Though Flagstaff Pulliam Airport鈥檚 parking lot utilization typically ranges from 30% to 40% of its nearly 800 spaces -- and rises past 50% on holidays -- the current parking rates were adopted in 2021 before going into effect in July 2023. Gall referenced an increase in wages for the workers in charge of the system and the cost of the third-party monitoring system as rising expenses associated with the paid parking system when discussing the proposal in January.
Additionally, Gall said during the commission鈥檚 May meeting that the construction costs associated with installing the paid parking system had been offset, with all parking fees now coming in as revenue, and that the airport wanted to be prepared for when a second carrier returns and parking demand rises.
鈥淲e obviously don鈥檛 have anyone just yet, but our conversations have been very productive,鈥� Gall said of a second carrier to join American Airlines鈥� flights to Phoenix and Dallas. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e seen through the length of this conversation that if we were to try to do an increase once parking demand is near capacity, if we do have an additional air service that鈥檚 getting us closer to the lot being full, it鈥檚 a very long process to get those rate increases through the commission, through the public notice and through Council approval.鈥�
The commission previously approved the addition of both a monthly rate and a lost ticket fee in January.
The terminal lot鈥檚 monthly rate will begin at $160, and the economy lot鈥檚 monthly rate will be $120, both representing a total of two free days per week based on the current daily cost. The lost ticket fee for the terminal lot will begin at $72 and the economy lot at $54, both equaling one and a half weeks of the daily parking rate. Those additions are expected to go into effect this fall, with increased rates coming in July 2026, both pending council approval.
The terminal lot鈥檚 maximum daily rate would increase from $8 to $10, with the weekly rate shifting to $60, the monthly rate to $200 and the lost ticket fee to $90 to correspond with the current formula for determining the three rates. The economy lot would increase from a daily maximum of $6 to $7, bringing the weekly rate to $42, the monthly rate to $140 and the lost ticket fee to $63.
White proposed voting on the increases to the terminal lot and the economy lot separately, expressing support for increasing the rate for the terminal lot while keeping the economy lot at a lower cost, but a motion and a second called for a vote on approving the two increases together.
Before departing the meeting, Councilwoman Lori Matthews, who serves as the commission鈥檚 liaison to the Flagstaff City Council, said she would be in favor of the parking rate increases and sees them as being reasonable. Though the rate increases need approval from city council and a 60-day notice, Gall added that a reduction in the rates does not require the same process, should the proposed increase prove to not be beneficial.
鈥淚f rates were approved here and we started to see a negative impact on parking because people thought they were too high, it鈥檚 very easy for us to go back to the council and say, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檇 like to drop these back down to where they were compared to what it is to raise them,鈥� Gall said.