"Indiana airport expects boost from new carrier"

Saturday, March 20, 2004

Airport expects boost from new carrier
Discount airline could entice more passengers to fly out of Fort Wayne.
By Dan Cortez
The Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette


Adding low-cost carrier America Trans Air Connection into what's
available at Fort Wayne International Airport has the six airlines there
wondering how and when to react. 

Most officials are sure it will result in lower ticket prices with the
other airlines, including Delta Connection, Northwest/KLM, American
Airlines, Continental Airlines, Shuttle America/US Airways Express and
United Airlines. 

Fort Wayne-Allen County Aviation Authority Board Director Michael
Gouloff and other board members Friday ratified an estimated $2.5
million incentives package that will add ATA beginning June 1. 

The board agreed with Gouloff's prognostication lower fares will help
retain customers who currently fly from Indianapolis, Detroit or other
nearby cities. 

"We will recapture those people. That's what we're hoping for," Gouloff
told the board. "I believe this is the best deal we can get in Fort
Wayne, Indiana." 

ATA will begin taking reservations Monday for its four daily flights to
Chicago's Midway Airport, where passengers can catch connecting flights.
However, what impact ATA's arrival will have on the fares of others will
not be immediate or guaranteed. 

Scott Durgin, president of Shuttle America, anticipated more passengers
but is taking a wait-and-see approach to his airline's fares. 

"I don't know that (lowering rates) is necessarily a trend," Durgin
said. "It's kind of the first time we've been faced with low-fare
competition. It'll be interesting to see what happens. 

"When more carriers serve an airport, more customers come out. We don't
see it as a negative. We will remain competitive with the marketplace." 

After spending nearly five years working to bring ATA to Fort Wayne,
Larry Thompson, vice president of air service development for the
Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, said the effect will be evident.


Within a 50-mile radius of Fort Wayne, about 550,000 travelers were
using other airports and 300,000 were flying from the city. Thompson
figured looming lower rates -- something he said is imminent with the
competition of a low-fare carrier -- will help close the gap. 

"(Rates) have already come down and they will come down some more," he
said. "All the airlines are going to gain passengers. This is a catalyst
for change." 

Carlo Bertolini, a spokesman for American Airlines, declined comment on
future fares. 

John Kennedy, spokesman for Delta Airlines, said competition in every
market makes for ever-changing prices. He would not concede Delta, which
runs a connection service in Fort Wayne, would respond to ATA's arrival
by lowering its prices. 

"Competition is always good for the consumer. Does it mean lower fares?
It depends on what the respective carriers decide is the appropriate
fare for the marketplace," Kennedy said. "All airfares, like all prices,
are dependent on supply, demand and competition. That dictates price." 

Kennedy disputed the notion airlines will instinctively lower fares to
meet those of the low-fare carriers. 

"They tend to charge less and there is a tendency to try to compete with
them," he said. 

Kennedy said passengers are more concerned with whether an airline goes
to their desired destination at the time the passenger wants to fly.
Afterward, price enters the equation. 

By adding the ATA connection service, Thompson said he believes the
airport will do a better job of appeasing more passengers. Of the top 25
destinations Fort Wayne passengers travel to now, ATA goes to 22 of them
out of Midway. 

Thompson predicted the airport can add 50,000-100,000 new passengers
within the next few years. "We're saying we can certainly do that by
changing the perception that this is a high-cost airport." 

If ATA does bring thousands of additional passengers to the airport,
Fort Wayne International could qualify for more Federal Aviation
Administration money, said Torry Richardson, executive director of
airports. 

Because of declining traffic caused in part by Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks, Richardson said, the airport no longer qualifies as a "small
hub" -- a change that could result in less FAA money. 

About 306,000 passengers flew from Fort Wayne International Airport last
year -- up 3 percent from 2002. But about 360,000 people boarded planes
in Fort Wayne in 2000, the year before fear of terrorism devastated the
airline industry. 

If the number of people boarding planes in Fort Wayne every year
increases to around 350,000, Richardson believes the airport could
reclaim its hub status.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dc/dcboard.php

*****************************************