Branson Airport Executive Director Jeff Bourk was recognized among the Best and Brightest 40 Under Forty by Airport Business Magazine in its August-September issue.
The magazine, which is published eight times a year, targets professionals who manage airports, airport-based businesses and corporate flight facilities in North America, according to a Branson Airport news release.
The news of Bourk’s inclusion in this year’s Best and Brightest group came on the heels of
Southwest Airlines’ announcement that it would launch its flights March 9 from the privately held airport. Branson Airport is the 79th to join Southwest’s network, an addition that followed Southwest’s $1 billion acquisition of Orlando-based AirTran Airways in May 2011. In January, the airlines ceased operations in six cities, but Branson Airport survived the cut.
Bourk said he couldn’t have asked for a better follow-up to the Southwest announcement.
“During the magazine’s 27-year history, there have been so many industry leaders recognized and commended for their commitments to the industry,” he said in the release. “ I am truly proud to be recognized in this way by a publication I have respected for so many years.”
Southwest has plans to fly nonstop to Chicago, Houston and Dallas, as well as weekly Saturday flights to Orlando, Fla., with connecting service to 67 of the airline’s other markets, the release said.
Bourk has been at the helm of Branson Airport since it opened in May 2009.
So far this year, first- and second-quarter passenger volumes are up 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively, from last year, but the airport has lost more than $30 million since 2010, according to income statements filed with the Municipal Securities Board.
In July, bondholders of nearly $114 million in revenue bonds used to build the airport extended a forbearance and funding agreement reached in April 2011. The original agreement was signed with trustee UMB Bank after a default related to the airport’s January 2011 debt service payment. The recent extension downgraded expectations for revenues and boarding passengers for the second time in the last year.
Though Bourk has remained mum on discussing specifics of the airport’s financials, he has maintained since Southwest’s acquisition of AirTran that the low-fare carrier is the answer to BKG’s financial woes. With Southwest service running, the airport is budgeting 50,017 enplanements, or boarding passengers, in the second quarter of 2013, a 53 percent increase compared to the 32,747 passengers recorded April–June this year.
In performance results posted Aug. 29 with the securities board,
BKG reported a second-quarter operational loss of $1.8 million. The airport is projecting to turn a $17,000 profit from second-quarter operations next year.
