"Consultants report on Palm Springs airport growth"

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Consultants report on Palm Springs airport growth
By Debra Gruszecki
The Palm Springs (CA) Desert Sun


PALM SPRINGS -- The Palm Springs International Airport Commission on
Wednesday was told by Cambridge-based consultants SH & E to expect about a 4
percent rate of growth.

SH & E representatives said expansion options remain in Canadian, Denver,
Detroit and New York markets and that a uniform approach needs to be defined
to determine the best way to package Palm Springs International with other
city agencies and tourism providers.

But La Quinta commission member Nancy Doria said she wasn't impressed with
the report.

"I do not see anything new,'' she said. "This is the same presentation we
saw a couple years ago."
Where are the specifics, Doria asked. "My question is, What's next? What's
going to take us to the next level?"

Doria, who had a role in bumping up traffic with major air carriers
operating out of Palm Springs from 1995 through 2000, pressed in the
informational meeting with airport stakeholders for details on sales
missions, and on whether or not SH&E had been having face-to-face sessions
with airlines.

She was told it had not, but that SH & E had been attending conferences at
which individual sessions were held with air carriers by Palm Springs and
other airport communities. 

That's not good enough, Doria said, then called for an action plan.

"We can trade e-mails until the cows come home,'' she said. "This is no way
to do business."

Richard Murphy, vice president, said the company has a track record of
building up awareness and credibility, as well as relationships with air
carriers. He said he also envisions there will be greater cooperation with
the Palm Springs Desert Resort Communities Convention and Visitors Authority
and Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism.

As an off-shoot of the meeting, SH & E consultants said they would return
within 30 days with a detailed plan of action. The firm is working under a
one-year, $125,000 contract that renews automatically on July 1. The
contract has a 30 day cancellation clause.

City Manager David Ready also suggested that the commission adopt
resolutions to invoke action.

During the session, it was revealed that airport staff met with SH & E, CVA
and Bureau of Tourism officials in a private dinner meeting to talk about
ways to forge this alliance. Ready said the session was held to bridge an
apparent disconnect in efforts to market and increase traffic or routes from
the airport.

The commission also was advised that Brian Kidd, deputy director of aviation
marketing and development, has made many inroads since he joined Palm
Springs International. Kidd, who works with SH & E, said he has met
individually with airlines and feels that a number of initiatives are
tracking positively on many fronts.

"We are doing things with every situation and with every existing air
carrier at this airport,'' Kidd said. "There's a new team now.we have new
players, new people in new jobs who are bringing in knowledge from their
experiences in other places. 

We're all working together to figure out ways to have success here."

Airlines that are courted include Frontier and Spirit. ATA is also being
tapped to explore a Palm Springs to Oakland connection, so travelers can
link to five nonstop flights to the Hawaiian islands.

"All of our discussions are at different levels,'' Kidd said.

Indian Wells commissioner Larry Spicer said it was also important to dispel
public perception that the airport growth is burgeoning. 

Even with about a 4 percent rate of growth, "What you are saying here is we
are always going to be a small community airport,'' Spicer said.

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