The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s board of directors on Jan. 18 approved contracts totaling nearly $160 million over seven years for three firms to operate a variety of rental-car operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The three successful bidders represent Hertz, Thrifty, Dollar, Enterprise, National, Alamo and Sixt brands. Collectively, they will be required to pay the authority either 10 percent of gross receipts at the airport, or an agreed-upon minimum.
The total contract value – $158,576,867 – includes a five-year base period plus two option years.
If the name Sixt is not immediately familiar, it wasn’t a known quantity to authority chair William Sudow, either. The global rental-car company is growing in the U.S. and already has a presence at Washington Dulles International Airport.
The agreements also include requirements for making a certain percentage of electric or hybrid vehicles available to those renting at the airport.