"Cincinnati Airport tries to lure low-costs"

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Airport tries to lure low-costs 
Delta has proved tough competitor in the past 
By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati (OH) Enquirer


In what has become an annual rite of futility, officials from the
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport head to a national
conference next week to try to woo new service, making pitches to three of
the biggest names in the low-cost arena. 

Airport spokesman Ted Bushelman confirmed Wednesday that marketing and air
service officials will be meeting with representatives from six airlines,
including JetBlue, AirTran and Southwest. The other three are America West,
Delta Air Lines and Alaska Air. 

No new low-fare carrier has served Cincinnati since March 2000, when
Vanguard Airlines left after a bitter fight with Delta. Airport officials
have attended the conference for at least the last four years. 

Cincinnati is Delta's second-largest hub; the Atlanta-based carrier controls
more than 90 percent of the traffic here through its mainline and regional
operations that include its Erlanger-based subsidiary, Comair. That
dominance has allowed Delta to charge higher fares. Cincinnati is the
second-most-expensive airfare market in the country, according to the U.S.
Transportation Department. 

In the past when low-cost entries came to the market, Delta matched fares
and added flights to make flying on it more convenient - especially for
passengers with frequent flyer miles. 

This time, however, Delta is in dire financial straits, and is in a similar
dogfight with AirTran in Atlanta. Delta, the nation's third-largest carrier,
has 8,000 local employees (including Comair). It has warned that bankruptcy
could be an option if it can't get costs under control. It has lost more
than $2 billion in the last 21/2 years, including $373 million last quarter.


Still, Bushelman said that the situation would not add any urgency to the
pitches made in Portland, Ore., at the annual air service conference put on
by Airports Council International North America, which represents airport
officials and authorities in Washington. 

"You can't do much in 20 minutes, which is all we normally get," Bushelman
said. "Sometimes we get invited back to their headquarters for a second
meeting, but that's been the extent of it." 

He also said that the airport doesn't get final say on which airlines will
hear the pitch. The airport submits a list of airlines it wants to talk to,
and conference officials try and match that list up with those of interested
airlines. 

A small startup - USA 3000 - is planning daily flights from here to Fort
Myers, Fla., on an Airbus 380 starting in December for as low as $59 each
way. 

Carriers that have tried service at CVG 

Here are the carriers, most of them low-cost airlines, that have started and
ended service at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport over
the past two decades. 

Airline              Start date     Stop date
 
New York Air         October 1981   August 1982  
Best                 October 1982   February 1983  
Florida Express      January 1984   Became Braniff Express in January 1988 
Midway Express       December 1984  January 1987  
People Express       March 1985     Merged with Continental, February 1987 
New York Air         September 1985 March 1986  
Presidential         October 1985   February 1986  
Braniff Express      January 1988   March 1989 (formerly Florida Express)  
Mark Air             April 1994     March 1995  
Sunair               December 1995  January 1996  
AirTran              February 1995  February 1998  
Vanguard             October 1996   November 1996  
Air Canada           November 1997  March 1998  
Vanguard             April 1999     March 2000  
Jet Blue             March 2000     March 2000  
Air Canada Regional  June 2001      September 2001

Source: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport 


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