"Sharing airplanes not seen as benefiting Ohio airport"

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Sharing airplanes not seen as benefiting local airport
By LARRY RINGLER
The Warren (OH) Tribune Chronicle


VIENNA - The growing trend of businessmen flying themselves to business
meetings in order to avoid crowded airports and frequent delays may not help
the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, the airport's director says.

''It's a very expensive proposition,'' Steve Bowser said of ''fractional
ownership'' -- a group of people buying blocks of time that allow them to
use an airplane. ''I think there are companies in the community that do use
it, but it's only a handful.''

Bowser said people trying to avoid the delays and congestions at major
airports have other options, including charters and businesses known as
''sky taxis,'' which use small planes to take passengers to their
destination.

Sky taxi companies use a new aircraft called ''light jets,'' such as the
Eclipse, that Bowser said is expected to change the industry.

The six-passenger jets can fly 1,500 miles and in jet terms are relatively
cheap -- $1 million to $1 1/2 million, he said. Corporate jets such as the
Gulfstream can cost $25 million to $30 million, he noted.

Local officials have contacted Eclipse to see if a maintenance facility
could be set up at the airport, but such companies typically have such
decisions made ''long before anyone contacts them,'' Bowser said.

The airport was home to a pioneer in the airplane-sharing business, Bowser
said.

''Beckett Aviation was the first one to offer a version of it,'' said
Bowser, who worked for Beckett in the mid-1980s. The company had 120
aircraft at one time, he added.

The airport offers charter service, but that requires customers to reserve a
plane for a specific date and trip instead of being able to set up a flight
quickly, Bowser said.

The need definitely is growing for such flights, he added.

''There are 15,000 airports in the country, and a lot can be used by smaller
aircraft. You can fly much closer to a business, and you don't have security
issues you do in a public format,'' he said.

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