Earlier this year, I covered how executives at Denver International Airport (DEN) received criticism for spending $165K on a trip to Madrid to attend a conference intended to attract more airlines to the airport, including one executive spending $19K on his business class ticket.
As you’d expect, this was quite a scandal, and it just seems like no effort was put into controlling costs. Executives at the airport have faced an ethics investigation over this trip, and the results of that are now in.
Ethics board clears airport executives, sort of
Denver’s Board of Ethics has cleared Denver International Airport and its CEO, Phil Washington, over the Madrid trip taken earlier this year. The investigation was used to determine if the executives were using public office for private gain, and while that wasn’t determined to be the case, there was a huge amount of criticism for the amount of money spent, and the rationale used for the spending.
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.” Washington told the board that he “had no idea of the cost of those tickets,” and that they were compliant with the travel policy for flights of eight hours or longer.
It was claimed that “upon reflection, had he known the price of the tickets was that high, he would not have allowed the trip.” But the board questioned that assertion, since Washington approved cost estimates for flights before they were purchased.
Washington also claimed that flying first or business class was necessary so that they could “hit the ground running” at the conference, though the board pointed out that most of the people on the trip did not participate in any panel presentations until two to three days after they arrived in Madrid.
The board couldn’t find any link between flying in first or business class and securing new air routes for the airport. The board also questioned “the need to send as many delegates as were sent to Madrid, and because this is an annual conference, disagrees with Mr. Washington that this was a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity.”
The board concluded the following:
“While a violation of the Denver Code of Ethics is not proven by clear and convincing evidence, 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.”
I think the board reached exactly the right conclusion
I think the Denver Board of Ethics conclusion is spot on. I don’t think the airport executives violated ethics by using public office for private gain. However, I think this situation is the prime example of what happens when you have a simple travel policy that allows X class of service for flights of X length, with no limits on pricing, or anything else.
Obviously Denver Airport is a massive operation, and $165K is a drop in the bucket for the overall airport budget. At the same time, you should lead by example, and how can you tell workers that they shouldn’t be able to get a raise when you’re fine dropping $19K on a single airline ticket?
It just showed a lack of basic decency, which isn’t necessarily unethical, but that doesn’t mean that the public shouldn’t expect more.
Bottom line
Executives at Denver Airport have faced an ethics investigation over their spending on a recent business trip to Madrid, where they spent $165K, including them each dropping anywhere from $9K to $19K on tickets. While I agree that they weren’t using public office for private gain, that doesn’t mean that their behavior wasn’t inappropriate, and showed a disregard for how funds were being spent.
What do you make of the conclusion of the Denver Board of Ethics??
