"Wichita Mid-Continent Airport to broaden its advertising campaign"

Tuesday, November 5, 2002

Airport to broaden its advertising campaign
BY PHYLLIS JACOBS GRIEKSPOOR
The Wichita (KS) Eagle


The "Ditch the Drive" campaign will continue well into 2003, but other
promotional efforts for Wichita Mid-Continent Airport are also in the
works, the Wichita Airport Advisory Board learned Monday.

At its monthly meeting, the board also heard about plans for a logo for
Mid-Continent Airport, changes to the airport's security systems and
prospects for cheaper fares to Chicago.

Beth Chappel, vice president and director of strategic marketing for
Greteman Group, the agency handling the airport's advertising campaign,
said the "Ditch the Drive" campaign will continue through the first half
of next year in billboard, print and electronic media advertising. The
campaign urges travelers to fly out of Wichita instead of driving to
other airports in search of cheap fares.

A longer-term goal, she said, is the "branding or re-branding" of
Mid-Continent Airport in preparation for a general promotion campaign,
apart from the concentrated work now being done to promote the two new
discount carriers, AirTran Airways and Frontier JetExpress.

In addition, Chappel said, two direct mail efforts will target business
travelers and corporate travel departments, and a "thank you" campaign
aimed at travelers who support the discount carriers is coming up soon.

During the next 60 days, Wichita travelers can expect bargains on
flights to Chicago, she said, as a promotional effort tries to draw more
customers to that route. AirTran officials have expressed satisfaction
with the number of travelers on its flights to Atlanta, but the numbers
to Chicago have lagged.

She said the message to business travelers will continue to stress
support for the low-cost carriers.

Director of Airports Bailis Bell said that new passenger screening areas
are in place and that the switch from private to government employees
has taken place over the last two weeks.

"All the fixtures and equipment have been changed out," he said. "One
thing that we're working on is decreasing the congestion in the area
outside the screening areas. The goal is to make sure that no one is
standing in line for more than 10 minutes."

By the end of the year, electronic devices to scan every checked bag
will be in place. Bell said that those scanners will be behind the
ticketing wall and that selected bags will be opened and searched
manually as well.


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