Fair Fares Seeks State Expansion, $52.5 Million - Wichita, KS

January 5, 2004

Fair Fares Seeks State Expansion, $52.5 Million
Wichita Business Journal, KS

Officials behind the public-private partnership that brought low-fare carriers 
to Wichita want to expand the program to include most of the state, which they 
say will require $52.5 million in funding. 
  
That's what Fair Fares Inc. officials told members of the South Central Kansas 
Legislative Delegation at a Monday afternoon meeting. 

Steve Flesher, the city's air service development director, told local 
government officials and state representatives and senators that Fair Fares has 
developed a plan to expand the program to improve air service in western, 
central and southeast Kansas, with Wichita serving as a small hub with non-stop 
service to the state's top 20 markets. 

The plan, Flesher and other Fair Fares officials say, would include realigning 
commuter air service in the state, bolstering ground transportation and 
collaborating among smaller Kansas communities in market development 
initiatives. 

It would also restructure the board to include business and political 
representatives from across the state, and create an airline negotiation team 
with a similar make up. 

To put the plan into place, officials say they'll need $52.5 million over four 
years. The money will be used for revenue guarantees with low-fare carriers 
such as AirTran, Allegiant, Great Lakes and eventually Southwest Airlines; 
advertising initiatives; and consulting and market development services. 

Flesher says the push to expand Fair Fares comes from what he calls "the 
incredible success story" of Wichita's Fair Fares campaign, which he says has 
saved airlines passengers $85 million. 

It also has resulted in many more passengers using Wichita Mid-Continent 
Airport. 

In 2001, there were slightly more than 1 million people who flew in and out of 
the state's largest airport. In 2003, that number climbed to 1.45 million, he 
says. 

Fair Fares, Flesher says, is "starting to bring skeptics to our side." 

One of those converts is state Rep. Don Myers, who represents the city of 
Derby, just southeast of Wichita. 

When Fair Fares was first introduced, Myers says he had a problem with it 
because it called for a business subsidy. 

Now, he says, he believes in the program and its effect on airfares. 

"I'm very impressed with it," says Myers, who adds that he used to drive to 
Kansas City International Airport to save on flying out of Wichita. 


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