"West Virginia's small airports compete in a changing aviation industry"

Sunday, September 26, 2004
  
Staying aloft
State's small airports compete in a changing aviation industry
By Jennifer Ginsberg
The Charleston (WV) Gazette


At a time when the nation's largest airlines are losing money and some have
filed for bankruptcy or are teetering on the edge, West Virginia airports,
like most nationwide, are trying to maintain and increase their air service.

Small airports are the most challenging types of airports to fit today's
business model, said Brian Streeval, an analyst with the Boyd Group aviation
consulting firm in Colorado.

Passengers want the cheapest, most convenient and fastest flights on the
most comfortable planes possible. But the lack of competition that occurs
when only one carrier serves an airport means higher fares and fewer
destinations.
  
West Virginia has eight airports that offer commercial passenger service. Of
those, five offer just one airline, which operates for US Airways express
and offers flights on 19-seat turbo-propeller planes.

National trends show that departures and nonstop routes served by turboprops
are decreasing. Regional air carriers are adding larger regional jets and
dropping turboprops that generally serve smaller markets. Plus, low-cost
carriers are attracting passengers from smaller communities to drive further
for lower fares.

In West Virginia, the number of daily turboprop departures since October
2001 decreased at every airport except Charleston, which increased, and
Lewisburg, which stayed the same. In October 2001, Huntington's Tri-State
Airport had 12 daily turboprop departures, according to a General Accounting
Office report. Now, three remain. 

While most airports lost some turboprop departures, Charleston gained 11
daily jet departures. Huntington, which didn't have any jet service three
years ago, now has four daily jet departures. 

Passengers also may pay more to fly from a smaller airport because there is
less airline competition. A direct flight to Washington's Dulles Airport on
US Airways Express leaving on Friday, Oct. 22, and returning on Sunday, Oct.
24, ranges from $183 to $269 from Bluefield, Beckley or Lewisburg on 19-seat
turboprops. Charleston offers flights for $78 or $83, depending on whether
passengers pick Independence Air's 50-seat regional jet or United Airlines'
30-seat turboprop.

In cities that only have one airline serving a certain destination, prices
tend to be higher overall. A nonstop flight to Pittsburgh from Parkersburg,
Charleston, Clarksburg, Morgantown or Lewisburg ranges from $206 to $361,
depending on the departure city.

For a small community to be a long-term competitor, it will have to support
jet aircraft, which means having 40,000 to 50,000 passengers a year,
Streeval said. Out of West Virginia's eight airports, only Charleston and
Huntington have those sorts of numbers. Those two plus Lewisburg are the
only three that currently offer jet service.

"There will be cities that lose service," he predicts.

Taking a more regional approach 

West Virginians may soon see new billboards and hear new radio
advertisements luring them to their hometown airport as part of a plan to
keep local airports alive.

"We have everything here that it takes," said Beckley Airport Manager Tom
Cochran. "We have a large airport for a rural area."

Travelers can leave Beckley, and fly daily to Columbus and Washington's
Dulles Airport and connect to other cities and airlines. Or, travelers can
drive less than an hour east to Lewisburg and hop a plane to Pittsburgh,
Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., or Dulles.

The airports will soon advertise together as a region, instead of competing
with each other for air traffic. This combined approach will give Southern
West Virginia more destinations and flight frequency, Cochran said.

Working as a region is one way small community airports can stay afloat amid
the turbulence in the airline industry, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

"We all have to be realistic about what is possible in light of the very bad
major carrier situation in the country now," he said. "I think as a result
of that, you're beginning to see [partnerships] now."

Rockefeller is the ranking member of the Senate Aviation Subcommittee and
helped create the Small Community Air Service Development Program. 

This year, four West Virginia airports received a total of more than
$600,000 in grants from the program for marketing and attracting new air
service.

The Beckley and Lewisburg airports will share a $300,000 regional marketing
grant. The airport managers believe their project can result in 9,000 new
passengers between the two airports within a year. The Morgantown and
Bridgeport airports will share a $327,000 grant to create a marketing
campaign to capture new passengers and lower fares.

"The key really is that the local communities have to have the
infrastructure, do the work, attract the air service - much as they would
try to attract an industry," Rockefeller said. "The community has to support
the service."

Selling small airports
  
Each of the managers at West Virginia's eight airports can quickly rattle
off reasons why potential passengers should fly from their local airport. 

There's less traffic and congestion when traveling a shorter distance. Most
of the airports offer free parking. Security lines are shorter and the
airports are less confusing. Passengers save time because they don't have to
arrive at the airport two hours ahead of their flight, which is a suggested
practice for larger airports.

Beckley resident Todd Cushman mostly flies out of Charleston's Yeager
Airport. But recently, he flew out of the Raleigh County Memorial Airport in
Beckley.

"I probably could have saved money out of Charleston. [But] considering
parking fees and convenience, it's pretty even," he said while waiting for a
plane that would take him to Washington's Dulles Airport and then to his
final destination out West.

Beckley's Airport Manager Tom Cochran is hoping more people will soon think
like Cushman.

"We hope to keep a level [of service] that will attract new people to fly
from their home airport instead of going somewhere else," he said.

Rockefeller remembered a few years ago when Charleston's Yeager Airport was
losing many of its potential passengers to Cincinnati. Then, the airport
increased its advertising.

"It sounds odd to advertise airport service," he said. "But you have to do
that, because you're selling a product."

Capturing the passengers who are driving to larger airports is part of the
solution statewide.

"People have to be on planes or else planes will not continue to serve where
we are," Rockefeller said.
 
Businesses, flights complementary

Communities that have greater business activity may have more air service
options because business travelers often pay higher airfares than leisure
travelers.

There are 300 acres on the west side of Beckley's runway waiting to be
turned into an industrial park starting next month. Airport Manager Tom
Cochran envisions light-manufacturing companies and aviation-related
businesses, like airplane maintenance, air cargo and parts distributors,
filling the park. 

"All of this is part of economic development. We're promoting that
development to try to bring in more business to have a bigger demand for air
service," he said. "This makes our area marketable for outside companies to
come in."

When a large company comes to town looking to relocate, its executives
always want to know where the airport is and how many daily flights and
destinations it offers, said James Griffith, the airport manager at
Harrison-Marion Regional Airport in Bridgeport.

"If we lose air service ... that city and state are at a handicap," he said.

What is the future for the state's airports? 

United Airlines is in bankruptcy and earlier this month, US Airways filed
for bankruptcy. Delta Airlines is teetering on the bankruptcy brink.

If Delta files, bankrupt carriers will hold about 42 percent of the nation's
commercial aviation capacity, Rockefeller pointed out.

These national airlines all serve West Virginia airports through regional
carriers. 
  
If a national airline goes out of business, or reorganizes to not include
serving smaller airports, the regional carriers could continue service to
West Virginia cities with a different national airline.

Rockefeller predicts there will be two scenarios for the future of US
Airways in West Virginia. The airline could emerge from bankruptcy as a
smaller company and further decrease the number of flights to and from
Pittsburgh. If so, Charleston is in good shape, because it has enough
passengers to support the Pittsburgh service, Rockefeller said.

But Parkersburg, Morgantown and Clarksburg depend on Mesa Airlines to offer
US Airways Express service. So, Mesa could work out a deal with another
airline to offer flights to another hub. Bluefield, Beckley and Lewisburg
receive money from the Essential Air Service program to subsidize some of
its flights.

Under the program, airlines receive federal money to provide flights to
nearly 140 communities. The three communities wouldn't lose service if US
Airways reorganizes or goes out of business, because another carrier would
bid to serve them under the EAS program, Rockefeller said.

If US Airways goes out of business, Rockefeller thinks Yeager Airport would
be all right.

"My guess would be the other carriers would add service and/or destinations
at Yeager. Huntington would likely lose Charlotte and be left with just
Delta Airlines service to Cincinnati, which is still very good, because
that's a huge takeoff point in any direction."

Rockefeller said he expects US Airways will emerge from bankruptcy. 

But bankruptcy can be a lengthy process. In the meantime, the state's
airports will continue spreading the word that people should support their
local facilities.

"If you're going to attract service, you've got to build [passenger]
numbers," said Griffith, the Harrison-Marion Regional Airport manager. "Once
you get past the basic advertising and educating the potential clientele,
you can do all sorts of things."


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

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


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