Denver International Airport spent more than $21,000 on a retirement party attended by just 45 people — more than $466 for every person who actually showed up.
The party was for the airport’s longtime Senior Vice President of Operations Greg Hegarty and was held Jan. 13, 2026, at the Westin Denver International Airport.
The Denver Board of Ethics has now weighed in on the spending, and while it cleared a Denver International Airport executive accused of violating the city’s ethics code, the board delivered a blunt assessment of the party and the way it was paid for.
The board said the use of more than $20,000 in public money for a retirement party was “inappropriate,” particularly at a time when Denver was cutting its budget. And it said using an airport vendor to pay for alcohol at the party was “improper because it rises to the level of an appearance of impropriety, if not an actual violation of the Code of Ethics.”…