"Kansas Airports Seek Separate Air Service"

Friday, March 30, 2007

Kansas Airports Seek Separate Air Service 
By Tim Unruh 
The Salina (KS) Journal 


Airport leaders Peter Van Kuren, Manhattan, and Tim Rogers, Salina, could
talk in unison about goals for commercial air service in their respective
towns.

Both would like bigger planes, more flights, better connections and
reasonable fares to service markets that are much larger than they appear.

And both airport managers want it done without a federal subsidy, without a
requirement that flights stop at each airport.

"It's not that we don't like Salina. It's just that for the quality of
service, that's the best way to do it," said Van Kuren, the Manhattan
Regional Airport director.

Rogers said both communities "share the same sentiment, that sharing
connected flights between Salina and Manhattan is not good for either
community."

Currently, both airports are served by Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group, doing
business as U.S. Airways Express. Mesa is under an Essential Air Service
contract with the U.S. Transportation Department to provide subsidized
service to Salina and Manhattan through February 2008. The three, daily
round-trip flights during the week -- one Saturday flight and two Sunday
flights -- includes stops at both airports.

Salina and Manhattan both requested separate service, Van Kuren said.

The contract period began March 1, 2006.

"The DOT made the decision to combine the cities on one contract because
they thought it would be cheaper for them," he said Rogers, executive
director of the Salina Airport Authority, calls the federal program "minimal
air service" that is lacking.

"Both airports serve markets with greater demand than is being met at the
present time by Mesa and Air Midwest," he said.

Air Midwest, Wichita, is a subsidiary of Mesa.

"It takes a combination of frequency, schedule, timely hub connections,
fares and larger aircraft to better meet the existing demand for air
service," Rogers said.

Van Kuren said the EAS program is a big reason why Manhattan's region is
under served.

"They're unable to provide the number of seats we need to meet the demands
that we have at the airport," he said. "When you look at the two airports,
there's nowhere near the number of seats that we need." Last year Manhattan
boarded 10,500 people, and Salina counted 2,029 passengers.

In an analysis from Eugene, Ore., consultant Mark Sixel, the Salina market
includes 255,000 true passengers. Rogers said one fourth of those, nearly
64,000 customers, is a reasonable goal, and enough to lure a regional air
carrier to Salina.

The Sixel study is giving Salina a clearer picture of what is needed, Rogers
said, among them a smooth transition from Salina to connecting flights at a
hub airport.

"It's not good to get to a hub airport and sit for three or four hours," he
said.

Kansas City International might not always be the hub of choice. The January
survey of air travelers in the Salina area also marked Denver International
as a "highly desirable hub," Rogers said.

Manhattan is somewhat behind Salina in developing market data for its area,
which includes Junction City, Kansas State University, rapidly expanding
Fort Riley and the Flint Hills region. But Van Kuren said the potential is
substantially larger than 10,500 passengers a year.

The airport has hired consulting firm Mead & Hunt -- also from Eugene, Ore.
-- to help improve service.

Once the Manhattan airport establishes its true market potential, Van Kuren
said, the community will begin to woo airlines.

"When this DOT contract ends (in February), our hope is that we will have an
airline willing to provide unsubsidized service to Manhattan to meet market
demand," Van Kuren said.

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