Shamrock, Airport Express combine, leaving Northern Colorado one service

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FORT COLLINS — Northern Colorado’s two airport shuttle services are now one, following Shamrock Transportation Services Inc.’s buyout of Airport Express.

Shamrock operates airport shuttles from Northern Colorado cities to Denver International Airport, and taxi and limousine service in Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.

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Airport Express, under the corporate name EXC Inc., had operated an airport shuttle service connecting Cheyenne, Fort Collins, Loveland and Longmont to DIA under the United Ground Link banner ? a contract service that resulted from the suspension of United Airlines connecting flights from Fort Collins-Loveland Airport.

State regulators in May lifted the Airport Express operating permit, citing a string of violations dating from late 1999, including failure to provide proof of insurance and unpaid PUC fines totaling $20,400.

The PUC also had held out the threat of district-court action against Airport Express in order to force compliance.

The two carriers reached a purchase agreement in early October, after a three-week negotiating process, Shamrock owner and President Tom Hofmann said.

Neither Hofmann nor Mick Hessler, a Nebraska-based consultant who is handling the deal for Airport Express, would disclose terms of the deal.

Once an agreement was complete, Shamrock took control of Airport Express’ fleet of buses and vans — and the responsibility to meet the carrier’s schedule — almost overnight during the first week of October. The speed of the transaction led to some logistical snags during the period after the deal, Hofmann acknowledged.

?The thing that was the most challenging for us was making this work in a very short period of time,? he said. ?We had two teams of drivers and two separate radio systems.?

Hofmann said the sudden drop in demand for airport shuttle service after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., made the transition easier than it might have been.

?We were down about 25 percent,? Hofmann said. ?That was actually a blessing in disguise.?

The buyout means that Shamrock now employs 103 drivers, dispatchers, mechanics and office workers and operates a fleet of 25 shuttle vans and three large buses. No jobs were lost during the transition.

?We were able to protect our service to the city, our customers and our people,? Hessler said. ?Because of Tom (Hofmann), we were able to do that.?

The combined service transports between 300 and 350 passengers per day between Northern Colorado cities and DIA.

The purchase by Shamrock of Airport Express’ buses and other equipment did not require state regulatory approval because Airport Express’ permit had been suspended.

?Since Airport Express does not have a certificate of operating authority in Colorado, there is no requirement that this transaction be approved by the PUC,? Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) spokesman Terry Bote said. ?If there had been a certificate involved, they would have had to come to us for approval. That is not the case.?

Bote also said responsibility for the fines that the PUC imposed was unclear, but doubted that Shamrock would have to assume that burden.

?I don’t believe they have the liability for the civil penalties,? Bote said. ?I don’t believe there has been any change in the status on that.?

The PUC in early October granted Shamrock an emergency amendment to its operating permit to provide service to Longmont, a city served by Airport Express but not covered under Shamrock’s certificate.

Airport Express had operated since early May without a Colorado permit. Shortly before a May 4 hearing at which the PUC pulled the carrier’s operating permit, Airport Express President and Chief Executive Officer Edward W. Conlon sent the commission a one-sentence letter telling members that, ?As of May 1, 2001, Airport Express Inc. will cease all operations in the state of Colorado.?

Conlon died in mid-July, but the carrier continued operating under the management of his son, Edward Conlon Jr., with assistance from Hessler. The elder Conlon had dissolved the corporation and reconstituted it as EXC Inc.

Hessler in September persuaded Conlon family members, then facing a prolonged legal fight with the PUC, to consider a purchase offer from Hofmann.