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Saturday, June 14, 2008 Economy stings smaller
airports By Tom Bayles The Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune The loss of
Continental Airline's service out of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport
come September completes an unwelcome trifecta for regional airports sitting
between the big players in Tampa and Fort Myers. USA 3000's decision to end service in August at St.
Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport meant the loss of 300,000
passengers. The much-heralded arrival of Skybus to Charlotte County Airport,
bringing passenger service back for the first time in decades, went bust after
only a few months. At least 68 smaller cities across the nation have lost
regional commuter airline service since January, a number that he said is
expected to top 100 by year's end, said Roger Cohen, president of the
Washington D.C.-based Regional Airline Association. "I've been in and around the airline business for 35
years, and by far and away, this is the most severe crisis I have seen the
industry go through," Cohen said. "The model the entire industry was
built on over a long period of time just no longer works." "I've got to give the community of Sarasota a pat on
the back because they have been as aggressive and creative as nearly any city
in the country in trying to pump up their airport's service volume," Cohen
said. "But there is no community in this environment that will not
suffer." Issue after issue The airline industry is facing a host of problems. Last month, the issue was not enough pilots; this month
they are laying pilots off, Cohen noted. The dip in travel after 9/11, industry
insiders say, has been surpassed by the mayhem caused by spiraling jet fuel
costs. "Everyone in aviation doesn't know what the heck is
going to happen," said Frederick "Rick" Piccolo, president of
Sarasota-Bradenton International and the past chairman and current board member
of Airports Council International -- North America. "After 9/11 we had a lone incident, a punch to the
gut, and we knew we'd recover," Piccolo said. "The problem with this
one is with the price of oil there is no light at the end of the tunnel." To help recoup billions lost in higher fuel prices,
airlines such as US Airways has started charging customers $2 for a soft drink,
Spirit Airlines is charging $20 to check a bag and Delta Airlines is charging
$3 to $8 for meals that used to be free. "They are charging for everything," Piccolo
said. "Soon there will be a slot in the bathroom door for you to put a few
quarters in there to use it." Continental's departure hurts Sarasota-Bradenton less
than the west coast's other regional airports, but it would still cut the
passenger count by 10 percent overnight. St. Petersburg-Clearwater is seeing some success with
regional carrier Allegiant Air, which flies to 15 destinations throughout the
eastern part of the country. The Las Vegas-based airline has committed to
flying out of the airport until at least the end of the year. The folding of Skybus Airlines has left a new, $5.5
million terminal sitting largely unused at the Charlotte County Airport. "What the larger picture will be, I don't
know," said Gary Quill, the airport's director. "I wouldn't even
hazard a guess because in aviation these days if you wait six months everything
you thought was going to happen is out the window." 'The geriatric express' New Jersey business owner Martin Steward has flown to
Sarasota-Bradenton from Newark Liberty Airport on Continental at least two
dozen times in the last few years to visit his mother in the Sarasota area. He found the flights most often full and does not
understand why the airline pulled the plug on the route. "It was affectionately referred to as the geriatric
express," Steward said. "I was talking to one of the Continental guys
behind the counter and he said that is the flight where the most wheelchairs
are needed on the ramp." Steward, who owns a publishing company near Princeton,
N.J., said all the other options he has to get here stink: a long drive to the
airport in Philadelphia, connection nightmares from the flights out of Newark,
or an expensive and frustrating commute into New York to JFK from which JetBlue
flies nonstop to Sarasota-Bradenton. "That Continental flight was really a lifesaver, pun
intended, to be able to get down there when Mom was in the hospital,"
Steward said. "I could be there in a few hours. You have an awful lot of
people in the New York area mad that that flight has been taken away." 'Prices double or triple' John Armbrust, publisher of the Palm Beach Gardens-based
World Jet Fuel Report, faults the federal government for making what he calls
little investment in oil supply infrastructure during the last two decades and
the lack of a cohesive energy policy. "What we are going to see happen is that if fuel
prices don't come down, and I mean right now, you're going to see the industry
go back to the '60s and '70s with high ticket prices," Armbrust said.
"Flying will return to being a luxury. Very few people flew at the time,
and you paid through the nose for for it." Airlines are going to have to double or triple their seat
prices to cover their costs, because there is nowhere else for them to go, he
said. Many small and medium-sized regional airports will lose major jet service
and will return to hosting regional carriers and cargo planes. Because Southwest Florida has pockets of affluence,
airports like Sarasota-Bradenton may buck that trend. "Even though Grandma and Grandpa may be grumbling
over the price, they may still fly the grandchildren in," he said. That is Kathy Baylis' hope. "You've got to look back at the history before you
look forward to see how far we've come," said the former chairwoman and
current board member of the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority. "Four
years ago we had very little activity, and then we came on like gangbusters. "Although I'm very disheartened with what happened,
I think the long-term prospects for the airport are still quite good." |