"Regional airports fight for flights"

Monday, September 27, 2004

Regional airports fight for flights 
By Dan Wascoe
The Minneapolis (MN) Star Tribune 


EAU CLAIRE, WIS. -- On the first leg of a birthday trip Thursday from Thorp,
Wis., to Las Vegas, Curtiss Beilke took his first-ever flight from Chippewa
Valley Regional Airport.

Meanwhile, his traveling companion, Bob Weinstein of Altoona, Wis., uses the
airport about once a month for business -- buying and distributing flutes,
drums and other instruments made in China and elsewhere. He said he likes
using the airport for its convenience and friendly staff: "I've never had a
problem."

But for Beilke, Weinstein and millions of other Upper Midwest residents, air
travel requires a connection through Minneapolis-St. Paul International
Airport (MSP) as part of Northwest Airlines' elaborate hub-and spoke
network, using partners such as Mesaba Airlines and, increasingly, Pinnacle
Airlines.

Northwest's proposal last week to spend $862 million to expand and rearrange
the airport raises questions about the effects on regional airports such as
those in Eau Claire, Rochester, St. Cloud and even Duluth.

Will MSP become a more powerful magnet for passengers around the region? Or
will the expansion spur passengers to seek less hassle and expense at
smaller airports that offer point-to-point service outside major hubs?

Many regional airports are staking their claim by building new control
towers, lengthening runways, improving lighting and expanding parking areas
and taxiways.

But their managers suggest that the key to their growth hinges on how much
service they can offer that doesn't funnel through Northwest's increasingly
busy Twin Cities hub. That, in turn, depends on airline economics and
competition.

Earlier this month, Duluth International Airport lost direct service to
Chicago when American Eagle discontinued its three daily flights. That left
the airport with nine flights to MSP and two to Detroit, all on Northwest or
its partners.

Airport Manager Brian Ryks said American Eagle pulled out despite rising
passenger counts. The main reasons: Reductions in flights at Chicago's
O'Hare International Airport, higher fuel costs and competition with
Northwest, which he said offered lower fares between Duluth and Chicago via
MSP than between MSP and Chicago.

At Rochester International Airport, American Eagle still offers daily
service to Chicago, while Northwest serves MSP and Detroit.

But airport manager Steve Leqve said Rochester still misses its former TWA
link to St. Louis and would like to attract direct service to Denver and
Phoenix.

Eau Claire looks east

In Eau Claire, airport officials have continued to sponsor billboards
promoting the Chippewa Valley's convenience. One of the signs is about
halfway between Eau Claire and the Twin Cities.

Chippewa Valley's passenger boardings through August were 31 percent higher
than a year earlier, and year-end totals could surpass the 2001 total of
23,200, before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks battered the airline industry.


While reflecting a rebound in air traffic around the country, Eau Claire's
total still would fall far short of its peak of 45,456 boardings in 1978
when North Central Airlines served the city.

John Luehrsen, chairman of the Chippewa Valley airports commission, said the
key to growth is to attract service to a hub in Milwaukee, Detroit or some
other eastern city. 

"When I heard about the [proposed] expansion in Minneapolis, I thought that
would mean more congestion there for our local travelers," he said.
Passengers from small "spoke" cities who land at MSP may have a long way to
walk to catch a connecting flight to a larger city.

"Any [passengers] this side of the St. Croix River would come here,
especially if we had service to a hub in the East," Luehrsen said.

"People used to say, 'Give us O'Hare,' " he added. "But they don't have
enough [capacity]" to support such service from a much smaller city."

Jerome Thiele, Chippewa Valley's manager, said that Northwest has been asked
to start service to Detroit but that the airline wants financial assurances
if passenger loads fall short. 

Meanwhile, he is negotiating with Midwest Connect Airlines, a regional
partner of Midwest Airlines, to start service to Milwaukee. A shuttle to the
nearby Amtrak terminal there would provide a quick rail link to downtown
Chicago, bypassing O'Hare. Thiele has a federal grant to help jump-start
such service.

Chippewa Valley has already lengthened its runway and next week will break
ground for a control tower. That will provide more discipline than the
current system that requires pilots to use their radios to negotiate who
should take off and land in which order.

"We've had too damn many near-misses," Luehrsen said.

St. Cloud's future

In St. Cloud, City Council Member Mike Landy said he considers the local
airport to be a logical target for future airline service when MSP becomes
saturated.

Northwest dubbed its expansion plan for MSP "20/20 Vision," referring to the
year 2020, but Landy said a more logical target would be 2050 because of
continuing growth of the Twin Cities area toward St. Cloud.

Landy, who also is one of 15 members of the Metropolitan Airports
Commission, said that at some point MSP will no longer be able to handle
more flights and "that will be the end of the line for it." 

That makes St. Cloud Regional Airport the most likely candidate for airlines
which can supply direct service to other cities without going through MSP,
he said.

Mesaba is the only airline serving St. Cloud now, but Airport Manager Bill
Towle said he is trying to attract service to Chicago or Denver. He
acknowledged, however, that "this has been a very tough [economic] climate
in terms of attracting new service."

Ray Rought, director of Minnesota's Office of Aeronautics, said that while
many of the state's airports are expanding, St. Cloud may be the best choice
to handle future Twin Cities demand.

"St. Cloud probably has the greatest immediate potential for growth because
of their relationship to expanding population centers," he said.

Meanwhile, Northwest is not inflexible in providing direct service between
cities outside its big hubs, CEO Richard Anderson said. While the
Eagan-based airline "is built for business traffic" and relies on tightly
timed schedules, he said, "Northwest is doing some point-to-point" outside
its hubs. Next month it will begin nonstop service from Indianapolis to
Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Hartford, Conn. 

But he added: "Only about 30 markets can support it" with sufficient
passenger loads.

With the exception of JetBlue, he said, most remaining airlines are running
some variation of hub-and-spoke service.

The Airports Commission will begin considering Northwest's expansion request
today. 

Attached Photo:

Waiting for the flight. Curtiss Beilke, right, of Thorp, Wis., with his
wife, Amy, prepared to board his first flight from the Chippewa Valley
Regional Airport in Eau Claire, Wis.

Area map
 http://www.startribune.com/stories/1608/5002268.html

claire.jpg