Airports passenger counts bring dose of optimism

Mad with thirst, a ragged traveler crawls through the desert and squints to see a liquid shimmer on the horizon. Is it an oasis or just another mirage?

Like the parched man, Columbia Regional Airport has been thirsty for air service. Judging by a surprisingly high number of Northwest Airlink passengers this month, along with increased support from the University of Missouri and a regional economic development group, advocates believe the airport has found its wellspring.

Since Mesaba Airlines, operating as Northwest Airlink, began flying 34-passenger Saab 340, turbo-prop airplanes Aug. 19, ridership has risen steadily,

The number of people getting on planes at the Columbia airport in the first 17 days of September rose nearly 55 percent over the average rate during the past six months. The percentage of seats sold per flight reached 59 percent the second week of September, well above the average “load factor” of 42 percent anticipated by the airline.

“We’re actually doing better than we thought we would; we’re starting to see the load factors increasing every week.” said Kathy Frerking, director of Columbia Regional Airport.  “We’re hopeful it will continue.  As long as fares stay reasonable and the service is reliable, we have no reason to believe otherwise.”

According to August figures provided by the City of Columbia, fares are competitive with rates out of St. Louis.  Although the cost of a flight to Chicago O’Hare, a long-proclaimed choice destination, is $600 more than a flight from St. Louis, flights to Dallas or Orlando are only $5 more, which is a bargain when parking, time and hassles are figured in, supporters say.  Northwest Airlines reports a flight completion percentage of 98.9 and an on-time performance percentage of 97.8 for service from Sept. 1 to 19 at Columbia Regional Airport.

Greg Cecil, chairman of the Airport Advisory Board, said he was impressed with the new airline’s attention to detail, such as marking the pavement to show how the planes should be parked.  “These guys are on time, and they really care about all that stuff,” he said.  “There’s just a different philosophy with Northwest than we’ve had with anybody else. And they’re really engaged in the community.”

Also cited in the new resurgence of air service in Columbia is a new commitment by the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau to promote the airport.  In addition, the Missouri CORE (Connecting Our Regional Economy) Partnership has pledged its support for Columbia’s airport, bringing communities such as Jefferson City, once fiercely protective of its own airport’s turf, into the drive to build Columbia’s commercial passenger service potential.

CORE has asked the entire mid-Missouri community to do whatever it can to help develop regular passenger air service at Columbia’s airport.  “Having regular air service is not only good for existing businesses, but it’s a key to attract new businesses looking at the area, especially technology companies,” said Mike Downing, CORE’s executive director.  “The other airports in the area-Fulton, Jefferson City, Lake of the Ozarks and some of the smaller ones-they don’t have regular air service, and they’re not trying to get regular air service. They realize that if we’re ever going to get consistent, regular air service, it’s going to be in Columbia because that’s where the population is, plus where most of the businesses are.”

The University of Missouri has come on board too, seeing opportunities for its students, faculty and staff to use the airport.  Paul Toler, MU’s director of business services, e-mailed the top 1,500 university travelers and made a pitch for using the Columbia airport. He’s also promoted local airport use during presentations at meetings on campus.

“They’re excited about the prospect, and I’ve gotten positive feedback from people who have used the service, including our president,” Toler said.

International students are especially enthusiastic about the Memphis connection, he said.  Memphis connects to 85 cities in the United States and six international destinations, and because it is an international airport, students can enter the country there and avoid the two-hour drive from Kansas City or St. Louis.

“Our international students have in the past had to fly into Chicago or LaGuardia and then fly into Kansas City or St. Louis, and we had to go pick them up,” Toler said.  “But now they can fly through Memphis as a port of entry, and fly all the way in to Columbia, so it’s a big deal for our international students and scholars.”

Cecil, who also serves as development and corporate relations director for the MU College of Engineering, cited the critical importance of a functioning airport for hosting university symposia.  It is usually best, he said, to showcase Mizzou’s facilities to visiting academics rather than holding a meeting in some other city with better air service.

With the pending merger of Northwest and Delta airlines, assuming the deal receives regulatory approval, more destinations are a strong possibility for Columbia.  Statewide, the merger will create access to more than 390 worldwide destinations, according to Northwest Airlines spokeswoman Kristin Baur, and will bring improved access to Asia, the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.  Delta has 14 peak day departures from Memphis, while Northwest currently has 233, which demonstrates that the companies have complementary route networks and very little overlap, she said.

The advantage of Columbia’s new connection to a hub airport will continue even after such a merger.  “Memphis will continue to be one of the combined airline’s largest hubs with extensive non-stop international and domestic service,” Baur said.

Connection to a hub is key, Cecil said, toward getting Columbia’s passenger enplanement numbers up to 30,000 enplanements a year, which is where the airport stood at the beginning of the decade.  Once the airport traffic begins to support itself, Columbia Regional might be weaned from government-subsidized Essential Air Service and a bright future with more destinations.

The time to support the airport is now, Cecil said.  “If federal funding were to disappear, we probably won’t have air service again for a long, long time,” he said. “If we could get the ridership up to 35,000 passengers or more and get those planes full, then if the essential air service goes away, and if these guys are making money on the deal, there is no reason to pull the service.”

But the chief selling point for Columbia’s airport is its convenience.  “The beauty of the whole deal is the 20-minute drive home,” Cecil said.  “You can say anything you want about air service, but when you land in St. Louis or Kansas City, you are looking at two hours.  My flight got in at 9:30 p.m., and I was home to watch the 10 o’clock news.”