Montgomery Regional Airport

[Southron]

The air taxi service sounds like Imagine Air which currently flies a single engine prop aircraft and has advertised plans to buy the new Eclipse 500 very light jet.

[Southron]

Officials from Delta and Atlantic Southeast Airlines promised Gov. Bob Riley there will be improved service from Atlanta to Montgomery, and claim to have designated a backup plane for the route. The extra plane could help relieve one of the biggest complaints -- that ASA often cancels the day's last flight to Montgomery, leaving passengers stranded in Atlanta and cancelling the first flight out of Montgomery the next day.

Montgomery Advertiser: Airlines vow better service: Backup plane should help stranded passengers

[Southron]

The city may help fund a marketing department for the airport. The airport authority needs $250,000 for the new department, but only has about $75,000 to dedicate to the effort.

Montgomery Advertiser: Airport wants to market facility

[Southron]

Montgomery Regional Airport had 13,000 fewer passengers in 2007 -- the third straight annual decline, although less than half the decrease in 2006. Compare this with a 7 percent increase in passengers at the Huntsville airport, and a 3.1 percent increase at the Mobile airport (both percentages for the first 11 months of 2007).

Montgomery Advertiser: Montgomery airport passenger totals dip in 2007

[Southron]

The Montgomery Regional Airport Authority will ask the city and county to pay $150,000 of the $250,000 needed to create a marketing department, with the airport authority paying the remaining $100,000 out of its budget. It probably won't be easy to get that much money from the city and county.

Montgomery Advertiser: Airport to seek marketing funds

[jtrippe77]

Montgomery Regional Airport could gain a new carrier and new destinations as early as the fourth quarter of this year, according to airport executive director Phil Perry. Discussions are underway with Allegiant Air, a Las Vegas-based low-cost carrier, to add a flight or flights to Montgomery. Perry said Orlando is his preferred destination, but he would welcome any flight the airline added.

Perry also reported that passenger departures on Continental, which flies to Houston, increased 9.6 percent over January 2007.

Airport could get new carrier

It looks like our little airport may be turning a corner. Hopefully Continental will add more flights now that they are seeing increased numbers. Huntsville has flights on Allegiant that go to Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. These would be the biggest jets to fly into Montgomery. Also, the airport received a grant two years ago to start a route with Northwest to Detroit. That hasn't started yet but it should since it's being subsidized by the govenment. The new convention center and expansion of Hyundai should help bring more airport traffic too. We need a better airport and more flights and destinations.

[Southron]

Barely a month after launching its service in Montgomery, Florida-based DayJet announced it is expanding operations -- making the Montgomery Regional Airport a DayPort, the company's equivalent of a hub. The DayJet air taxi service uses Eclipse 500 jets.

Montgomery Advertiser: Little planes, big impact: DayJet expands service

[Southron]

The city offered to pay $150,000 to help the airport create a marketing department. The airport will come up with another 100k and the department should be up and running soon.

City could pay entire $150,000 of airport marketing plan

[jtrippe77]

Airport looks at intermodal center

Airport to add parking facility

The Airport Authority's parking lot committee recommended putting an intermodal transportation center in the northwest corner of the long-term parking lot. Expected to open by mid-2010, the center will serve as a waiting area for taxicabs, limos and other ground transportation vehicles. The facility, which will be paid for with a $4 million federal grant and $1 million of local money, should simplify ground arrival and departure at the airport.

I really think the airport is starting to turn the corner. I hope to see more flights by the end of the summer. I think this airport has the potential to be successful. Huntsville is a good example of what we could have. They have twelve gates to our 6 and 7 airlines to our 4. I think they have about 40 flights a day and we only have 15. Montgomery and Huntsville are exactly the same size. Montgomery can do better. I think the convention center and marketing efforts will help.

[Alabadrock]

Airport looks at intermodal center

Airport to add parking facility

The Airport Authority's parking lot committee recommended putting an intermodal transportation center in the northwest corner of the long-term parking lot. Expected to open by mid-2010, the center will serve as a waiting area for taxicabs, limos and other ground transportation vehicles. The facility, which will be paid for with a $4 million federal grant and $1 million of local money, should simplify ground arrival and departure at the airport.

I really think the airport is starting to turn the corner. I hope to see more flights by the end of the summer. I think this airport has the potential to be successful. Huntsville is a good example of what we could have. They have twelve gates to our 6 and 7 airlines to our 4. I think they have about 40 flights a day and we only have 15. Montgomery and Huntsville are exactly the same size. Montgomery can do better. I think the convention center and marketing efforts will help.

[jtrippe77]

I don't think a lack of conventions is Montgomery's problem really. The main reason Huntsville sees so many flights is because of what the economy is based on. Aerospace and hi-tech industries to A LOT of international and interstate business, so, you're naturally going to see more air traffic. When you look at areas like Montgomery and Huntsville-Decatur, you're looking at airports that are used by usually just residents and people visiting the area for business trips definitely no connection flights. It's not Montgomery's fault, and it's not a bad thing they don't get more air traffic, it just means that the city has a different economy.

But, to get back on topic, conventions will help increase air traffic.

[Alabadrock]

I agree. Huntsville is very diffrerent economically. That is a huge factor. Huntsville is a bigger airport than Mobile too. I just think Montgomery lags behind most, if not all, cities its size. For example, Chattanooga and Tallahassee have more flights. Things are improving though. It will just take a little more time.

[Southron]

February 2008 passenger depar

[jtrippe77]

Airport traffic declines in March

The number of passengers using Montgomery Regional Airport declined by 8.4 percent in March and by 4.6 percent so far this year. According to airport officials, arrivals were down 9.9 percent, and departures were down 6.9 percent.

Montgomery Advertiser

Can this airport ever get better? I bet we don't get Allegiant airlines anymore. They just shut down operations in Huntsville. We need new leadership at our airport.

[jtrippe77]

Businessman looks to start air service

By Cosby Woodruff

[Alabadrock]

^^Ok, for all I know, this guy could be 100% legit, but I dunno, just seems a bit sketchy.

[Southron]

The merger of Delta and Northwest Airlines could bring larger passenger planes or fewer routes to Montgomery Regional Airport, but officials say it's too early to predict whether the merger would hurt or help the airport. Regional connections for the two airlines carry about 70 percent of passengers in and out of Montgomery. Some flyers are concerned that the merged airline might cut routes.

Too early to predict effect of airline merger

Merger could have big impact on smaller airports

[Southron]

Beginning later this year, Atlantic Southeast Airlines will fly only jets to and from Montgomery. The carrier currently uses CRJ-200 jets and ATR-72 turbo-prop aircraft for its flights, but by fall it plans to use only the jets.

Governor Bob Riley met with Delta Connection and ASA officials on Wednesday for a 90-day follow-up to a January meeting that addressed ASA's on-time performance to the Montgomery airport. Since then, ASA's performance at the airport has improved to the point that it is better than both the carrier and industry averages.

Carriers: Jets to rule city skies

[Southron]

Air service to Montgomery Regional Airport continued to show improvement in March. Commercial flights arrived on schedule 74.6 percent of the time, compared to a national average of 71.6 percent. On-time flights had been well below the national average for most of 2007.

Capital City airport bests on-time rate

[Southron]

Despite major improvement in on-time performance at the airport, passenger use at Montgomery Regional was down 6 percent in April (as compared to April 2007) and down 5 percent thus far this year. Hopefully news of the the improved service will eventually sink in and help improve the usage numbers.

Montgomery airport has fewer passengers

[jtrippe77]

Despite major improvement in on-time performance at the airport, passenger use at Montgomery Regional was down 6 percent in April (as compared to April 2007) and down 5 percent thus far this year. Hopefully news of the the improved service will eventually sink in and help improve the usage numbers.

[j.midtown]

I think there are less people flying out of Montgomery because we have less flights than last year. I flew out of MGM two weeks ago and it was wonderful. All flights left on time and we got back to MGM 20 minutes early. We flew Delta. The flights were packed. The CRJ on the way back did not have a single empty seat. We left on a ATA at 6:00a.m on a Thursday and it was 90% full. If they added more flights I think you would see an increase in passenger traffic. The airport complains that airlines just won't add flights because of fuel and bankruptcy. Well, they add flights other places. I don't think those in charge know what they're doing. (Which is typical for those in charge of just about everything in Montgomery).

[Southron]

Continental Airlines announced that it will cancel service to the Montgomery airport after Labor Day. Montgomery is one of 15 cities that will lose service from Continental's cost-cutting efforts.

I read an article a few weeks ago that predicted about 50 regional airports around the US will lose airline service entirely as fuel prices continue to increase. I hope Montgomery is not one of those. It seems certain that the airport will be losing more routes, though.

Continental drops Montgomery routes

[jtrippe77]

Another black eye for MGM. I know it wasn't necessarily thier fault but this airport has gone nowhere under the current leadership. Boardings have been down for at least 3 straight years while Mobile, Birmingham and Huntsville have been up. Hyundai had zero affect on flights. It is something more than the "state of the airline industry" excuse that the Airport Authority keeps using.

[Southron]

Some more good news for the airport: flights to Montgomery Regional Airport were on time more often in May than at any time in the past four years. 83.59% of May flights arrived on schedule -- the best performance since April 2004, when 84.86% of flights arrived on schedule. The 83.59% Montgomery rate compares to a rate of 79.02% across the entire U.S. air industry in May.

On-time flights reach 4-year high at Montgomery airport