Denver airport has made 9 managers to the 1st class of Madrid, business class; A ticket was greater than $ 19,000 and “the policy authorized it”

CEO of Denver International Airport Phillip Washington And his eight senior executives flew to Madrid in April in April in a conference on the three -day airport terminal, the nine first class flights or in business class with each leg of the trip.

One of the tickets costs more than $ 19,000 while another was just under $ 16,000, according to the recordings obtained by CBS News Colorado under the Open Records law of Colorado.

“International trips are expensive,” Washington said in an interview on the trip. In this case, Madrid's trip cost about $ 165,000, an average of $ 18,000 for each traveler, including flights, hotels, meals, conference costs and land transport.

When asked why the contingent had to steal the most expensive service class on each leg towards and from Spain, Washington said: “Our policy allows us to do so.”

The Kayak flight website has shown Denver round trip to Madrid can cost as little as $ 1,300, and Premium economic seats can be purchased for about $ 3,000.

Washington continued by saying that first class trips for him and his management team are essential to their productivity: “You have to launch the floor. You literally go from the plane to a meeting or a conference or other.

But the real flight tickets obtained by CBS News Colorado have shown that the leaders landed in Madrid around 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. on the morning of April 7. But records of the 2025 passenger terminal exhibition show that the conference started until 24 hours later, on the morning of April 8.

The conference attracted approximately 1,700 airport leaders, consultants and aviation experts sharing information on new technology and airport terminal trends. Several of the Dia leaders spoke at the conference or sat on panels.

Two other American airports – Dallas -Fort Worth and Los Angeles International, which are both similar in passenger traffic to DIA – sent much fewer representatives than Dia. Los Angeles International said they had sent four representatives to Madrid, while Dallas said they had sent five employees.

“We were the speech of the conference,” said Washington.

Allergarten flights for DIA operations director Dave Laporte reached $ 19,194.21, while William Poole flights, vice-president of planning and design of the airport, totaled $ 15,764.71. Washington flights came to $ 12,324.01 and flights for her chief of staff, Maria Melleandez, were $ 12,324.21.

“We are still trying to get the cheapest prices we can get,” said Washington.

But Melenandez apparently violated the travel policy of DIA employees, which allows employees to add a maximum of two working days to their work trips. The apparent intention of the rule is to prevent employees from using work trips as points for long vacation. But that's exactly what Melenandez did. At the end of the conference on April 10, she then traveled to Europe for about two weeks, without returning to her business class flight in Denver until the end of April, well beyond the two-day limit.

“I didn't know the rule,” said Washington. “We will manage this accordingly. We will take care of that.”

While the conference ended in the afternoon of April 10, the Dia travelers – with the exception of Melleandez – all to do on Friday April 11 have returned to Denver, giving them the weekend to rest and recover. Asked about the upgrade to first class and business class on the way back and if it could have been done more economically, Washington simply said: “Politics allows it, so we took advantage of it.”

The round-trip prices of the other five emotional leaders varied from $ 9,000 to $ 11,000 each.

Overall, Washington said the expenses were, in his opinion, to be worth it.

“These costs may seem high; they are an investment in our people,” said the CEO. “We sent who we sent, and they will pay dividends while we build this infrastructure.”

He said that what they learned at the conference would defeat future DIA costs and eventually save money: “I have no reservation on what we have chosen there. I think it was an excellent investment for the Rocky Mountain region, the city of Denver, Dia and national airspace.”

The financing of the trip comes from the revenues of the dia, which derive from what the passengers pay for concessions, parking costs, car rental income and other costs of use.

While Washington defended the class of travel and travel costs, he said: “We are examining and always reviewing all our policies. We will take a look at it. If it is logical to revise it, we will do it.”