Tallahassee Regional Airport

[csmurphy8885]

werent we just blabing about Ted Turner.... here is a start. Juana Jordan's Biz Buzz in the T.Dem said TED's MONTANA GRILL to open in August. over on the ritz of capital circle NE it will be the third of the chain in florida (the first two in Jax). Ted Turner may be struck by our downtown charm soon enough.

[Florida]

Yeah... just above it a picture of the Montana Grille... my dad calls me last night and says we're going to go eat at that new montana grille place, I was excited thinking he knew something I didn't. Apparently they were training the staff and my father thought they were open for business, so we were, shall I say, let down by the disappointment, but we'll be back in August.

[97preludesh]

back on subject, I love the airport and jets,, any chance of us getting a bigger terminal???

Also.... We need a parking garage at the airport, come on tally the lot is just so weak and the suck!

[Florida]

One thing about those parking lots... they're always full!

Tallahassee Regional is undergoing some major changes in the near future. Plans are in development stages as we speak to not only enhance the terminal, but also the marketing of the center. Leader are still trying to lure another discount carrier since the departure of Airtran. I've heard JetBlue thrown around.

[97preludesh]

Hot I <3 Jetblue... the way he landed that airplane... a few weeks ago, with faulty landing gear....!!!

[Florida]

Delta to Halt Direct Flight from TLH to JFK

Just as I expected... Tallahassee's Airport is in trouble... again.

My Thoughts:

We need to get a discount carrier back into the airport, we need to step up our marketing of the airport, we need to move quickly to improve our routes to the airport from the downtown and interstate, and we need to probably look at new airport management team.

My question for all: Would our Airport do better if it were run by a corporation instead of our government?

[Florida]

There is a bright side to this...

The state has approved $42.6 Million that will help to widen Capital Circle from Orange Avenue to Hwy 90 (Tennessee-Old Quincy Hwy). Widening work has already begun on the segment from Hwy 90 to I-10.

The state has also forwarded 900,000 in funds for a runway expansion and 30,000 for a new apron.

Hopefully Blueprint will hurry to finish the work between Orange and Tram.

[csmurphy8885]

The only thing i have ever used the airport for is to locate tally on a satillite map, or for my lil brothers pilot lessons. lol. Its by the waste water facilities right?! hummm.

[Florida]

The only thing i have ever used the airport for is to locate tally on a satillite map, or for my lil brothers pilot lessons. lol. Its by the waste water facilities right?! hummm.

Yes it is! Aww man that's sad. I think this is true for most people who live in our city. Our airport is a non-factor in their living here. I think we could change that if we do some professional marketing of the airport.

I think the issue with the airport and TalTran is that they are government entities and they don't have to worry about low traffic, low revenues, because any shortfalls will be picked up in the next year's budget. I think we need staffing that thinks more like the corporates do... if we don't succeed we're going out of business... we need that type of attitude at TLH.

[csmurphy8885]

So... privitization eh?!?! that is a sin word in this town!! LOL.

But privatizing an airport and the Taltran folks would be a great thing I believe. Think of what we could do with all that money... I say privitized as a regional attraction.. .i wan tpeople to say.... "Lets go play ta the airport".

[Florida]

LOL... it might be a good idea for the Airport to play around with the idea of luring in a few popular stores or restaurants that people would travel over to patronize. Something that the public can use, unlike the new retail and food court they currently have, which is only open to the travlers.

I'd visit the airport for shopping, and eating... or at least that area. But most of this is likely to come after the roads are right.

We don't have to privitatize the airport and TalTran, but we can run them as if they were private companies, which means throwing out a bad management team if they fail to produce our desired results... we should do this until we get the people in there who will get it right...

My major concern... Why doesn't TLH (Tallahassee Regional Airport) have its own website, independent of the City?

[csmurphy8885]

resturants and shops that arent in the area... because i would rather drive to killearn to eat than to an airport. But if there were say, and irishmans wardrobe or a store like that,,, yeah i'd go!

[Florida]

LOL!

I truly think the condition of the road has alot to do with why people don't drive over in that area. Not that he road is bumpy, because its quite smooth, its just lonely and isolated. I think transportation industry would thrive in this area if not for the fact that most of the land surrounding the airport is National Forest.

I could see a trucking service company being brought in to support increase in trucks using this part of the "Truck Route". Widening roads always brings in more people, and retail, restaurants always seem to follow. I'd look for the airport area to get some shopping and retail action within the next 5-10 years.

[csmurphy8885]

Maybe we should re-organize the shipping industry stretch along the west sid eof capital cirle, and blountstown highway, its nasty. Not that i would expect these kinda operations to be clean, but the swampy beautifully florida environemnt in that side of town is beaing raped.

[Florida]

I agree...

Have you driven down Lake Bradford, Springhill Road, and Part of Pensacola where it looks like they haven't seen a Code Enforcement officer.... ever?!

Well I have, matter of fact I drove down Spring Hill Road today. One of my biggest concerns are these car shops, where they have either their wrecked cars up front, on the right-of-way in some cases, with shattered glass windows, rusty side panels and missing tires and wheels, or the building itself looks like its about to fall down. This would not exist if I were on the commission. I'd seriously be working on an ordinance that states a buffer, be it natural tall bushes, trees, shrubs, or a man-made barrier seperate these eye soars from the road. This is the reason the city doesn't like to route people to the airport from downtown via Lake Bradford, Spring Hill, or Orange. Tallahassee doesn't have many roads like this, but the few we have are TOTAL embarrasments.

[csmurphy8885]

yeah right... let see this happen in the NE... if we dont call them out, they will think they are getting away wtih it. I am such a white boy whitey hatter.

[jpl02]

Well I have, matter of fact I drove down Spring Hill Road today. One of my biggest concerns are these car shops, where they have either their wrecked cars up front, on the right-of-way in some cases, with shattered glass windows, rusty side panels and missing tires and wheels, or the building itself looks like its about to fall down. This would not exist if I were on the commission. I'd seriously be working on an ordinance that states a buffer, be it natural tall bushes, trees, shrubs, or a man-made barrier seperate these eye soars from the road. This is the reason the city doesn't like to route people to the airport from downtown via Lake Bradford, Spring Hill, or Orange. Tallahassee doesn't have many roads like this, but the few we have are TOTAL embarrasments.

It's funny but sad at the same time. I know Houston has this problem......they want all airport traffic using the Hardy Toll Road because I-45 north is just cluttered with billboards and all kind of nasty stuff

The southside area along these roads must certainly be in a CRA........why don't they give grants to these businesses for beautification and facade improvements? COT may not want people to use those routes, but all the taxis I've taken from TLH go up Spring Hill and Lake Bradford! There's not many other ways to get from the airport. I'd like to see some extensive beautification projects done around there. It'll be a big boost for residents as well. Everyone likes living in a clean, well-kept area. It can raise property values .

COT should also erect some nice looking "welcome signs"......made of concrete or something that welcomes people to the city, instead of the bland "Tallahassee City Limit" sign.

[Florida]

I agree!

I think one of the strangest things is if I were to take a route from downtown to TLH and I didnt' want my passengers to see that much blight... I'd take Adams to Orange, from Orange turn left onto Lake Bradford (the road where the Reservation is) then right onto Capital Circle is where you'll find the airport. The only probelm with this route are the dern Speed Bumps every 5 inches!!! For the life of me I can't understand why they had to go to such extremes.

You're absolutely right about the property value increase. I looked down some of the roads and the homes are actually quite decent, its the businesses that front the road that make the place look like the slums.

If I drove a Code Enforcement truck I'd be slapping some heavy fines along Springhill Road, Extreme South Monroe (I think its called Woodville HWY) and Blountstown Hwt west of CC.

[Florida]

Addressing Concern from the Tallahassee Democrat:

He said there was no reason to expect airlines such as Southwest, JetBlue or AirTran to fly into and out of Tallahassee because it is not economically feasible for them.When it comes to airline growth and airport service, "the future is legacy carriers, not low-cost carriers," --Phil Iglesee, Assistant Director of Avation for City of Tallahassee.

I'm not sure what he means by this. Is this an admission that we aren't interested in luring a low-cost carrier to our airport, because if this is so we need to quickly find replacement staff. Legacy carriers, such as Delta, Continential, US Airways, American Airlines and others have not been good to our pockets.

Delta lowered its prices and drove AirTran out of town, then raised them back up when AirTran left. Delta dominates the Tallahassee market, AirTran was a close second place when it was here, but it could not compete with Delta's ability to lower their prices below a level that was profitable for them to stay here in Tallahassee.

Despite this fact however, other cities are benifiting from higher increases in passenger traffic than we are because they have low-cost carrier service. I flew AirTran 6 times during their two year stay in Tallahassee and I must say their service, while low-cost, was top notch in terms of comfort, and timeliness.

We shouldn't look down on low cost carriers. Cities like Tallahassee need them.

[csmurphy8885]

agreed. I like the idea of options epspecially in traveling... no monopolies, thats just silly.

[Florida]

I'm genuninely concerned that the airport is taking the wrong direction with this stance towards discount carriers. I'm not sure if his comments are meant to represent the entire department as a whole, but this sure sends the wrong signals.

This is the type of stuff I'd write the news paper about if it weren't for UrbanPlanet, but I'm very tempted at this point to write someone.

How can he say that Discount Carriers are not critical to the future of the airline industry? What does he mean by legacy carriers are the wave of the future... they're all going bankrupt.

[csmurphy8885]

LOL... The big dogs brain wash! "If they think we will save them, then they at least will pay us to try"

[Florida]

Yeah... my concerns are building with regard to the airport operations. I'm not sure what to think.

You know how there are times when government is working on something and just doesn't want to report on their progress. Or times when they've tried to lure a liner, such as AirTran or Southwest and are turned down. This is probably the root of some of these comments. Whatever the case, I'd like a little more communication on this. I think City Talk should do a new segement on the airport just to get us up to speed.

How would you rate John Marks work on the airport in reference to Scott Maddox? Scott brought us AirTran, they left under the watch of Mayor Marks.

[Go Gators]

Well, I dont know a whole let about TLH, except for that the prices are outrageous. To me, it is well worth it to drive back home to Orlando and fly out of there, rather than fly out of TLH. I just checked travelocity, it costs 210$ minimum to fly into Orlando from here, v. 40$ for gas to drive. Or a search from TLH to JFK came back $257 (Delta), which isnt that bad, but from Orlando to JFK (Delta) is only $138. I understand regional airports are slightly higher to fly in and out of, but until TLH gets its act together on price, it will continue to be the airport that it is.

[Florida]

Well, I dont know a whole let about TLH, except for that the prices are outrageous. To me, it is well worth it to drive back home to Orlando and fly out of there, rather than fly out of TLH. I just checked travelocity, it costs 210$ minimum to fly into Orlando from here, v. 40$ for gas to drive. Or a search from TLH to JFK came back $257 (Delta), which isnt that bad, but from Orlando to JFK (Delta) is only $138. I understand regional airports are slightly higher to fly in and out of, but until TLH gets its act together on price, it will continue to be the airport that it is.

I think you're absolutely right.

What's the meaning behind the statements of the Assistant Director of the Airport. Did anyone else read the article and interpret it a different way?