CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Yeager Airport is currently working with rental car companies to fill a void left behind by Hertz.
During the airport’s most recent board meeting, Director Nick Keller said Hertz filed for bankruptcy and left the airport.
“It’s kind of surprising to us but they did reject the contract here and ceased operations on May 13. prior to that, even as they declared bankruptcy, they were paying in full,” he said.
Keller said the airport is working with companies that have previously expressed interest in being in Charleston. The airport is looking for someone to take over Hertz’s contract.
“If they are not willing to do that, we can put it out for bid,” Keller said.
Keller said the contracts of all rental car companies on-site expire in June 2022 and the airport would be issuing a request for proposal (RFP) next spring.
In the meantime, he doesn’t expect a hit to the airport’s budget because of the loss.
“The only hit right now is rent payment which is pretty minimal. All of the business that hertz is not getting is going to the other companies and we would still be getting 11% of the gross revenue,” Keller said.
“Financially, it is not a huge burden on us but it’s something we are trying to remedy and get another company.”