The Denver Gazette conducted a video call interview with Denver International Airport’s CEO Kim Day March 8 to ask her about navigating the airport through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. She was going to retire last year, but decided to delay that decision because of the pandemic.

When did you know the pandemic would change everything?

It was the afternoon our executive team realized we needed to divide into two sections and keep isolated from each other. We were trying to figure out what a schedule would be, who would come in on what day. I had the sense that life had changed. Couldn’t have any clue how long this was going to last, but I knew that the way we typically had faith at being at the airport every day was definitely changing. At least for the near-term future. No one anticipated it would be this long.

What was the worst day?

We dipped to – are you ready for this – 6% of our normal traveler traffic (April 15). If you went to the airport it was empty. It was almost like 911-type empty. It was ominous quite honestly.

Everyone realized that this shutdown meant that we were all going to lose revenue, and that we were losing passengers. So everyone tried to minimize their staff, minimize the scope of work, We reduced our costs by over $50 million dollars by eliminating some bussing and renegotiating contracts. It devastated the industry to say the least.

We were estimating a shortfall of revenue of $400 million dollars for 2020. We came in a little less than that, but still that’s the difference in the revenue when you have no passengers.

Most important thing in those early days?

Communication, communication, communication. We had a daily call with the executive team where we all shared what was going on. It was just so much happening all at once. And we wanted to make sure we were making good decisions and collaborative decisions. The other thing was really looking at the financial plan, and looking hard at it, and trying to project. I don’t have a magic eight ball, but we were trying to predict what would happen in 20 and 21 and 2022. And then we developed a financial plan to cope with it. I’m happy to say we out-performed it. Not by a whole lot but by a little bit. But there was a lot of heavy lifting to right size our organization and our costs. You mentioned our north security checkpoints shutting down. That was the TSA doing the same thing, they wanted to limit the number of staff they had on hand when we had very little traffic.

What did you miss the most?

Missing being with my team in the same room together. Having that small talk that makes you a cohesive team. I miss being at the airport everyday and that energy you get from being out there and walking the terminal is just incredible. And personally, I miss travel. I love to travel and have not been on a plane in the last year.

What’s changed permanently?

I read an article not to long ago that said a third of Americans now consider themselves germaphobes. Forget COVID. Just in general we are wary of germs. So I think that the changes that we have made – and when I say “we” I’m going to include the airlines – to make the environment cleaner. To offer more touchless services. We introduced a program called “verifly” to give someone who is more concerned about germs a germ-free experience. All of those things I think are going to stay with us. And as we look at technology and how aviation develops going forward, I think touchless is going to be the answer.

I think we’re trying to get people to feel more confident about getting back on planes. Again, it’s more than COVID. Nobody wants to be exposed to anything. I think we’ll still see masks. You see it in Asia when people travel, or when they have a cold or are afraid of getting a cold they wear a mask. Why wouldn’t you do that, right?

I always say that every failed Zoom call, and every failed Microsoft Teams call, is just reinforcement that business travel will return. Because we hate Zoom. We hate this! But on the same side, I think this technology has allowed us to have a bigger reach for every meeting that we have. So I do think these video calls are going to be part of our future, but they’re not going to replace that face-to-face meeting that we all need.

When will everything get back to normal?

We did a financial plan assuming we’ll be back to normal the end of 2023. I think we may beat that. Quite honestly, we finished last year down about 50 percent (passenger traffic). But we’re seeing numbers over Spring Break that are higher than that. Somewhere in the 70%, 80% of last year at the same time. So those are really good numbers. We’re about 15% above the national average. And that’s because we’re a domestic hub. All those gateway, coastal airports, lost all of their international traffic and are really suffering. But we lost 4% of our traffic, which is international, and domestic fell but it’s coming back up. So we’re recovering quicker. I think as we get vaccinated you’re going to see people getting back on planes. And I’m anticipating we’re going to end this year stronger than we had anticipated in our original plan.

Great Hall renovations?

Phase one will be complete in December. We’re very excited about that. That will open new check in counters for United and Southwest, our two biggest carriers. Phase two work is starting, creating the new security screening up on level six on the west side. So that’s moving fast. And don’t forget about the new gates. We have 39 gates in construction all of which will be operational by Q2 of next year. We opened the new B West gates already on United’s concourse B, including an outside terrace and the most beautiful bathrooms you’ll ever see in an airport. So that’s the first step in really adding 30% capacity in all of the gates. We have lots of construction happening quickly. That’s a good thing for the airport and allowed us to continue to build while we had fewer passengers. It also allowed us to keep jobs active at the airport, which is such an important thing in this downturn.

One of the things that has helped all of us in this industry is a little bit of innovation during this time. That’s what happens when we have a crisis. People think a little differently and we develop better ways of doing things. We will emerge from this leaner and meaner and with more technology. We are ready. When passengers are vaccinated and they feel like coming back to the airport, we are ready for them and they’ll have a safe experience.