A Landline bus is reflected in a Transportation Security Administration sign at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport on Jan. 30 in Loveland.

LOVELAND — When Landline partnered with United Airlines for its "wingless flights" bus service between Northern Colorado Regional Airport and Denver International Airport two years ago, it operated much like any airline would and paid fees as if it were a traditional connector flight.

United passengers could book travel to and from Loveland to their destination, check bags at the ticket counter and board the bus to DIA. Landline offered four daily trips and unlike a traditional shuttle service was working to secure TSA clearance to drop passengers within a secure area, bypassing the much longer security lines in Denver.

But thus far, the Transportation Security Administration has not authorized that clearance and it's uncertain whether it ever will. That forced Landline to pivot. Today, it operates more like a traditional airport shuttle and on Thursday Landline asked the Northern Colorado Regional Airport Commission to adjust its fees accordingly.

Airport finds itself in Catch-22

The main sticking point to getting "secure-to-secure" approval from the TSA is something outside of Landline's control.

To get secure-to-secure approval, the airport has to have a TSA security checkpoint. But TSA won't provide a security checkpoint at an airport that lacks commercial air service, which Northern Colorado Regional has struggled to attract and retain.

The TSA recently approved Landline's secure-to-secure service in Philadelphia, the first of its kind in the world, Landline officials said Thursday. Landline believes it can prove there is demand in the market to connect from Loveland to DIA with secure-to-secure access.

Airport officials are banking that the new terminal, expected to open next year, will be a catalyst to attracting a new commercial airline to Northern Colorado. "We are being proactive to get something in here for when the terminal is done," said Interim Airport Director David Ruppel.

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New rates help Landline's profitability

Airport commissioners approved a new contract aligning Landline's fees with that of shuttle provider Groome.

Construction of a new terminal, which has moved Landline's pickup/drop-off spot away from the existing terminal and closed about 100 parking spots, has disrupted its business, limited its ability to grow and inconvenienced passengers, Aaron Ehle, the airport's planning and development specialist, wrote in a memo to the commission.

The airport had structured its fees "as if it were a flight," he said. Now, "its fees are out of whack with what Groome pays."

Groome pays a land lease of $48,800 per year with no per departure or passenger fee. Under the current fee structure, Landline would pay $100,375 in departure fees plus $4.50 per departing passenger based on 11 trips per day.

At DIA, Landline pays $7.81 per departure with no passenger fee. At Loveland, it pays fees of $25 per departure and $4.50 per passenger.

Under the new agreement, approved unanimously, Landline will pay $12 per departure for the first eight departures and $10 per departures after that. The rates apply through 2024, unless Landline begins offering secure-to-secure service. In 2025, original rates would resume.

The new rates will bridge the gap, providing relief so Landline can continue its service, Ehle said. The airport waived Landline's fees for the first 12 months of operation.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Landline reworks Loveland airport agreement; awaiting TSA approval