Baton Rouge Metro Airport

greg225 · November 3, 2015

Baton Rouge Metro Airport has $1.1B annual economic impact, says study aimed at attracting more business travelers

The Baton Rouge Metro Airport is unveiling a strategic plan this afternoon that seeks to grow the local airport and eventually, it is hoped, bring more direct flights to Baton Rouge.

The plan, which is being presented to the BTR Board of Commissioners at its monthly meeting, focuses on growing the business travel segment of the market by stopping the so-called leakage of business travelers who opt to use New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport over BTR. The plan shows that 63% of Baton Rouge-based air travelers use airports other than BTR.

“The bad news is we have leakage,” says consultant John Snow, whose firm, Emergent Method, prepared the strategic plan. “The good news is we have leakage because that’s where our potential market is.”

The strategy involves a two-pronged approach: Encouraging more local business travelers to use BTR by enhancing airport services and improving the overall travel experience; and developing incentive packages that can be offered to airlines to bring more direct flight service to the market.

It’s a chicken-and-egg kind of situation, and addressing both pieces of the puzzle simultaneously won’t be easy. The main reason travelers use New Orleans over Baton Rouge is because Baton Rouge doesn’t have enough direct flights. But airlines don’t want to start up new direct air service in a market like Baton Rouge unless they’re sure they have enough passengers to fill their planes to capacity.

“When you have just four main, large carriers there is not a lot of competition, so they can dictate when and where they are going to fly,” says Assistant Aviation Director Ralph Hennessy. “So if you want them to add a new flight, you’ve got to show them that it will make money.”

The strategic plan seeks to address that challenge in a couple of ways. The plan starts by making an economic case for the airport, noting its $1.1 billion annual economic impact on the local economy and the 4,500 direct and indirect jobs that come from it. The plan suggests that local businesses have a vested interest in supporting the airport because it is a local economic engine.

The plan also makes the argument that driving to New Orleans and flying from there doesn’t save as much time and money as is often assumed. The study argues there are hidden costs that range from $40 to as high as $400 per trip.

But the meat of the plan hinges on copying the proven successes of other midsized markets like Richmond, Virginia, and Memphis, which, like Baton Rouge, saw its airport usage decreasing. In recent years those cities have created public-private partnerships to rally around their airports and promote local usage. Those cities have also created incentive packages from third-party funding sources that include profit guarantees to airlines to minimize their risk in starting up new service.

“We have to work with the community, BRAC and BRAF, to help us put together the incentive packages,” says Airport Director Anthony Marino. “Airlines operate like any other business out there—they operate on yields and margins. It has to be profitable for them.”

The BTR Board of Commissioners does not need to take any action on the report. Marino says airport staff will begin implementing the recommendations in the plan immediately. https://www.businessreport.com/article/baton-rouge-metro-airport-1-1b-annual-economic-impact-says-study-aimed-attracting-business-travelers

Mr. Burnham · November 4, 2015

Finally! I'm glad the study mentioned the success of Richmond and Memphis.

all2neat · November 4, 2015

Here's a similar article out of the Advocate.

http://theadvocate.com/news/13876229-123/study-finds-baton-rouge-airport

greg225 · November 4, 2015

Baton Rouge Metro Airport need to meeting with citizen of EBR and listen to their issue they have with the airport. I think that's the only way they solve a lot of problems and ask people what direct flights they would like see come to airport. Baton Rouge Metro Airport also need focus on bring the cost down as well to attract more people.

Edited November 4, 2015 by greg225

Mr. Burnham · November 8, 2015

Baton Rouge Metro Airport need to meeting with citizen of EBR and listen to their issue they have with the airport. I think that's the only way they solve a lot of problems and ask people what direct flights they would like see come to airport.

The airport can ask for all the flights they want, but it's going to be hard to get those flights if people are not using the airport. Airline Companies are not going to sink money into an airport no one uses.

Baton Rouge Metro Airport also need focus on bring the cost down as well to attract more people.

Well yes, but again, it's hard to bring costs down when they are as low as they can go and as low companies are willing to put them.

cajun · November 13, 2015

Finally! I'm glad the study mentioned the success of Richmond and Memphis.

I used to fly through Memphis a lot and I enjoyed the Delta Skylounge there. Delta de-hubbed them and now they are primarily an O-D airport. Memphis has a big airport with a lot of spacious, ample runways capable of handling any aircraft in production today. The airport is still incredibly busy, but that's because it's probably 85% FedEx Superhub traffic.

Part of their agreement to avoid antitrust cases when they merged with Northwest was that they'd keep the Northwest hubs at MSP and MEM open. They flat out lied to the taxpayers and greased the right pockets in DC I guess. They kept MEM as a fortress hub for a few years and gouged the hell out of the O-D traffic until they finally de-hubbed it a year or two ago. Since then, MEM has been very successful in attracting new airlines to the gates that Delta would abandon. Allegiant, Southwest, and Frontier have all expanded into that market and drove ticket prices down. They are no longer a hub, but they have non-stops to seemingly every major hub in the country except maybe Sea-Tac. I actually expect Alaska airlines to enter MEM with a non-stop to Seattle soon, which will of course trigger a Delta non-stop to Seattle.

Keep in mind that MEM is a huge airport with plenty of gates that are no longer exclusively "leased" by Delta/Northwest. Baton Rouge doesn't have that luxury of an abundance of cheap, unclaimed gates unless they plan on expanding concourse B. They can expand, but they don't have ample room like MEM had.

Some things that I think Baton Rouge can justify (I've bolded what I think is the lowest hanging fruit for BTR).

Delta CRJ 900 service to either MSP, LGA, DTW, or JFK.

United CRJ service to either DEN, IAD, EWR, or ORD

Southwest 737 service to BWI, HOU, TPA, LAS or MCO

American Eagle/US Air CRJ service to ORD, PHL, DCA, or MIA

I actually think Southwest would be very successful in Baton Rouge if it entered the market soon.

The problem is that I think Baton Rouge will need to add a couple of more gates to concourse B if it were to realize more of it's potential. I believe there are only two gates that are not allocated exclusively to an airline already, and they are not even in the same concourse. Delta has enough daily flights at BTR to justify taking up the last remaining gate on A if they ever added another nonstop destination to a big northeast hub, leaving no room for a United expansion unless they moved to B where American and US already have gates.

So.....from a competitive standpoint, Southwest could move into Baton Rouge and take the last remaining gate at B (which needs a jetway) and limit other airline's ability to expand in the airport. They might even push American into the remaining gate in A. Delta could also monopolize A if they added a destination. My point is that the first airline to expand in Baton Rouge would basically prevent other airlines from expanding into the market until the airport justifies an expansion. That's an opportunity for them.

Edited November 13, 2015 by cajun

Mr. Burnham · November 14, 2015

I think a light expansion of the airport would be a very good idea. The current design IMO is very old and very outdated.

dan326 · November 14, 2015

Yeah, I think adding another couple of gates would be good. It may not have enough traffic but they should add a Raising Canes in there.

Mr. Burnham · November 16, 2015

Yeah, I think adding another couple of gates would be good. It may not have enough traffic but they should add a Raising Canes in there.

That would actually be great, maybe add a row of five shops/restaurants next to the current line-up.

greg225 · November 16, 2015

Riegel: Baton Rouge’s airport about to embark on a long journey

As the Baton Rouge Metro Airport released a new study last week designed to measure its passenger “leakage” and explore ways to address the problem, business leaders in New Orleans confirmed their yearlong effort to secure a coveted nonstop flight between New Orleans and London had fallen through.

British Airways, with whom business leaders had been negotiating, decided instead to send its newest 787 to San Jose, California, where, as GNO Inc.’s Michael Hecht conceded, “the business market is more developed than in southeast Louisiana.”

The timing of the two airport stories was coincidental, says Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel in her latest column, but they’re not unrelated.

“Southeast Louisiana has two struggling airports within 90 miles of each other, though one is struggling more than the other. New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport, abbreviated MSY in the industry, is trying to become a truly international airport, and maybe even a hub one day. Baton Rouge, or BTR, is just trying to increase the number of direct flights it offers. It has four,” Riegel writes in her latest column.

In an era of airline consolidations and increased competition among airports nationwide, Riegel wonders if Louisiana can grow both of its largest airports.

“Should we even try?” she writes. “It’s a difficult question, and Baton Rouge will have to do some soul searching to come up with answers. The BTR study, which was prepared by consulting firm Emergent Method, essentially lays its findings at the feet of the local business community and looks there for help solving its problems.”

The problems are considerable, Riegel notes. Some 63% of Baton Rouge-based air travelers—those who live within a 50-mile radius of the Baton Rouge Airport and, therefore, should be using it—are opting to use the New Orleans airport instead.

“BTR officials view this as a dark cloud with a silver lining: They see an opportunity to recapture a share of that market by going after the business travelers who are ‘leaking’ to New Orleans and convincing them to make BTR their default airport,” Riegel writes. “The report suggests targeting the business community with a three-pronged approach.”

Read the full column. https://www.businessreport.com/article/riegel-baton-rouges-airport-embark-long-journey

greg225 · November 16, 2015

I'm starting to think like Mr.Bernham maybe Baton Rouge and New Orleans do need one international airport. Baton Rouge and New Orleans need to take a trip to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for the blueprint. It could be built in St. James Parish I think that's in between both cities it could sit along the train tracks with a train station at the airport.

Edited November 16, 2015 by greg225

Antrell Williams · November 16, 2015

MSY is already under construction, too late for a new airport now. The only thing that might work now might be one in Livingston to try to create a new market of Baton Rouge/Northshore.

greg225 · November 16, 2015

MSY is already under construction, too late for a new airport now. The only thing that might work now might be one in Livingston to try to create a new market of Baton Rouge/Northshore.

I don't think Livingston will work the airport need to be along the rail line. With the trouble both airports having adding new flights maybe something that may have to be done in the future. The Baton Rouge-New Orleans region need to be able to market the region like Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

Edited November 16, 2015 by greg225

Mr. Burnham · November 17, 2015

20 hours ago, Antrell Williams said:

MSY is already under construction, too late for a new airport now. The only thing that might work now might be one in Livingston to try to create a new market of Baton Rouge/Northshore.

I would totally support an airport in the Livingston area...maybe between BR and Hammond? Open up a rail link connecting us all the way down to Slidell with stops in Hammond and Covington.

16 hours ago, greg225 said:

I don't think Livingston will work the airport need to be along the rail line. With the trouble both airports having adding new flights maybe something that may have to be done in the future. The Baton Rouge-New Orleans region need to be able to market the region like Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

While I agree the Baton Rouge-New Orleans region needs to be able to work well together (I still think the Minneapolis-Saint Paul or Dallas-Fort Worth similarities are naive because those cities are much, much, much closer than Baton Rouge and New Orleans). We must remember that it was New Orleans that rejected an airport between the two cities and is now using Baton Rouge and our own leaders stupidity to get what they wanted all along. It's obvious that Baton Rouge must look to other cities to work very closely with. I firmly believe that Hammond is that city.

This does not mean we shouldn't work with New Orleans (we should, because more business and people going to New Orleans will ultimately help everyone), but if Baton Rouge wants to become a large metropolitan city and a true centerpiece of the New American South, we must work closer with the parishes in our metro and Hammond.

cajun · November 17, 2015

On 11/14/2015, 12:40:22, mr. bernham said:

I think a light expansion of the airport would be a very good idea. The current design IMO is very old and very outdated.

I think no more than two gates with jetways on concourse B would make the airport vastly more attractive to new carriers. Typically, when one expands, a competitor also does. Also, discount airline giant Southwest typically doses not come in with only one gate.

Then again, perhaps they are waiting on a commitment before they do that. I know airports like to keep on working gate around just in case a weather event (or security threat) causes a lot of planes to be grounded.

On 11/16/2015, 12:04:28, greg225 said:

I'm starting to think like Mr.Bernham maybe Baton Rouge and New Orleans do need one international airport. Baton Rouge and New Orleans need to take a trip to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for the blueprint. It could be built in St. James Parish I think that's in between both cities it could sit along the train tracks with a train station at the airport.

That would be great, but I think that ship has sailed unfortunately.

New Orleans does not want to be served by an airport farther away than Kenner.

Edited November 17, 2015 by cajun

greg225 · November 17, 2015

2 hours ago, mr. bernham said:

2 hours ago, mr. bernham said:

I would totally support an airport in the Livingston area...maybe between BR and Hammond? Open up a rail link connecting us all the way down to Slidell with stops in Hammond and Covington.

While I agree the Baton Rouge-New Orleans region needs to be able to work well together (I still think the Minneapolis-Saint Paul or Dallas-Fort Worth similarities are naive because those cities are much, much, much closer than Baton Rouge and New Orleans). We must remember that it was New Orleans that rejected an airport between the two cities and is now using Baton Rouge and our own leaders stupidity to get what they wanted all along. It's obvious that Baton Rouge must look to other cities to work very closely with. I firmly believe that Hammond is that city.

This does not mean we shouldn't work with New Orleans (we should, because more business and people going to New Orleans will ultimately help everyone), but if Baton Rouge wants to become a large metropolitan city and a true centerpiece of the New American South, we must work closer with the parishes in our metro and Hammond.

I would be cool with a airport in Livingston if it had a rail system going from Baton Rouge to Hammond. Biggest problem now is that Hammond and Northshore haven't include themself in the Baton Rouge-New Orleans region yet.

Edited November 17, 2015 by greg225

Antrell Williams · November 18, 2015

10 hours ago, greg225 said:

I would be cool with a airport in Livingston if it had a rail system going from Baton Rouge to Hammond. Biggest problem now is that Hammond and Northshore haven't include themself in the Baton Rouge-New Orleans region yet.

I don't think they have a choice lol. They are in New Orleans MSA.

greg225 · November 18, 2015

1 hour ago, Antrell Williams said:

I don't think they have a choice lol. They are in New Orleans MSA.

You are right about the Northshore, but Hammond is not. Hammond area code is 985

Mr. Burnham · November 18, 2015

10 hours ago, Antrell Williams said:

I don't think they have a choice lol. They are in New Orleans MSA.

Hammond is it's own Metro region, the entire parish is like one big metro 'wall' between BR and NOLA, which is why we should work with them. Imagine a rail way loop that connected Baton Rouge to all the major cities along the lake and river. With three large/important airports serving the region and increasing development...I could see the making of the next great American Megacity.

Antrell Williams · November 19, 2015

21 hours ago, greg225 said:

You are right about the Northshore, but Hammond is not. Hammond area code is 985

Oh yeah, they were in the MSA for a couple years I think. All of the northshore and Houma areas are 985.

Think Hammond will continue to be it's own MSA?

Mr. Burnham · November 19, 2015

16 minutes ago, Antrell Williams said:

Oh yeah, they were in the MSA for a couple years I think. All of the northshore and Houma areas are 985.

Think Hammond will continue to be it's own MSA?

I think it proves how much Baton Rouge and New Orleans are growing...I could see Hammond possibly growing to include Northshore and continue to be its own MSA for a long time...until it just joins Baton Rouge.

greg225 · January 15, 2016

Baton Rouge Metro Airport eyeing possible hotel and restaurant to grow revenue

Baton Rouge Metro Airport is looking to add a hotel and restaurant to its north Baton Rouge terminal in hopes of growing airport revenue and adding convenience for travelers.

The airport’s board of commissions accepted a request for proposals from Holiday Inn representatives to explore building a 147-room hotel with a Mike Anderson’s Seafood at the airport. Holiday Inn representatives are still studying the market, but they are expected to make a determination in the next couple months on whether they can build the hotel.

“I look at revenue streams and when I see a hotel with all the amenities and a Mike Anderson’s restaurant, I say, ‘There’s a secondary revenue stream,’ ” said Airport Director Anthony Marino.

The Holiday Inn could prove to be a lucrative deal for the airport. The money for construction would come from the developers, and the airport would not be involved in financing it.

Marino said terms of the proposed contract stipulate the airport is to receive at least $280,000 a year out of the deal. Of that money, $30,000 would come from the yearly land rental. The hotel and restaurant would also have to pay either 6 percent of its annual gross sales or $250,000 a year — whichever is greater.

Building at the airport could also have perks for the developers. They would not have to pay property taxes on the hotel’s land because the airport, as an enterprise zone, does not pay property taxes.

Still, a hotel at the airport would be competing against a Hilton Garden Inn, a Spring Hill Suites and Microtel Inn and Suites across the street on Harding Boulevard. Each of those hotels has the word “airport” in its name.

Their owner, Richard Preis, said the airport is too late to the game to be successful.

He said he tried to join forces with the airport when he built his hotels in the 1990s, but it didn’t work out. His hotels, which he said normally run with occupancy rates between 75 and 80 percent, are filled by people who come to do business with Baton Rouge companies such as ExxonMobil and Southern University.

Asked if the market can sustain another hotel attached to the airport, Preis said, “In my opinion, no way.”

He said that one of the biggest problems with building a hotel at the airport is the close proximity of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. His hotels are also near the prison, but have better visibility on Harding Boulevard.

Metro Councilman and Airport Commissioner Trae Welch said it’s up to the developers to determine whether the Holiday Inn would oversaturate the north Baton Rouge hotel market.

“That’s part of the due diligence that the hotels are doing,” Welch said. “The only thing the airport’s doing is providing the land... This is private developers with an opportunity to see whether it even works. People aren’t going to finance it if they can’t put the science behind the money.”

Marino said they should be successful because the Holiday Inn brand is not already in north Baton Rouge. He also said they have a built-in client base in the 40 or so pilots and flight crew members who overnight in Baton Rouge and like to stay as close to the terminal as possible.

Marino said the Mike Anderson’s restaurant could be a real boon in north Baton Rouge, since the area has so little economic development and few restaurants. He also said the airport has been wanting to add a hotel for a decade, but that the timing was never quite right.

The entrance to the airport’s parking garage was curved with the expectation that they might add a hotel next to it one day, Marino said. He said the hotel would be attached to the parking garage and enclosed between the garage and the airport.

Airport officials have been clawing for new business ideas to raise revenue. With fewer airlines and flights available, Marino is a fan of using business to give the airport a monetary boost.

He said he liked the Holiday Inn and Mike Anderson’s proposal from Gonzales-based Bear Brothers LLC because of the name brands involved. Bear Brothers is made up of the Robert family, who own the Gonzales Mike Anderson’s and Harry Robert Insurance Agency.

They could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

The other proposal to build at the airport came from Starwood Hotels, represented by Velvet Pines developers, based in Mandeville.

A study in November 2015 identified that two-thirds of travelers who live near enough to use the Baton Rouge airport routinely fly out of other airports instead. Figuring out how to entice more travelers to fly in and out of Baton Rouge rather than neighboring airports like the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport also is a priority.

Adding a hotel to the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport might give Baton Rouge the convenience factor that helps it beat out another airport, Marino said.

“It’s just one more convenience factor for going in and out of Baton Rouge,” Welch said. “We’re doing our best to make it convenient, we’re doing our best to make it easy.” http://theadvocate.com/news/14575827-123/baton-rouge-metro-airport-eyeing-possible-hotel-and-restaurant-to-grow-revenue

dan326 · January 15, 2016

^Neat! I think Mike Anderson's is definitely a good restaurant to represent Baton Rouge & LA, hopefully they can get that for sure.

It's a shame the prison is right across the street but maybe they can use some creative positioning so no room windows face it. I wonder where the Starwood was trying to build. Maybe I missed it but it's only referred to at the end of the article, but is mentioned like the alluded to early.

For visualisation, the Holiday Inn on Constitution/College has 140 rooms.

Of course the competitor would say the area can't sustain more hotels, lol.

Edited January 15, 2016 by dan326

cajun · January 15, 2016

Good stuff. I have doubts on a Mike Anderson's in that area, as Boutin's failed almost immediately as I predicted....but attaching it to a decent sized hotel may do the trick. I think an hotel attached to the airport could make it there but it would likely hurt the Howell Blvd area hotels. That's likely why Preis is against this.

Delta uses Baton Rouge as a maintenance facility for their CRJ-200, CRJ-700, and CRJ-900 aircraft. They actually have a small but steady stream of flight attendants and pilots that stay overnight there. Given where they plan on putting it, it would definitely have an advantage over other hotels.

Disappointed that VC-25 wasn't used in Obama's latest trip. Would have liked to see the 747 at BTR again like we did in 2004 and 2008.

Edited January 15, 2016 by cajun

greg225 · February 2, 2016

Baton Rouge airport official blames seating capacity reduction for 4% decline in 2015 passenger count

The Baton Rouge Metro Airport saw a slightly more than 4% decrease in the number of passengers in 2015, a drop one airport administrator attributes to a decrease in seating capacity last year.

In 2015, 753,443 people either got on or off a plane at the Baton Rouge Metro Airport, compared to 786,061 people in 2014, a 4.1% decline, according to data provided by the airport.

Jim Caldwell, marketing and air service manager for the airport, says seating capacity at the airport dropped 5% in 2015—meaning there were fewer seats available to customers—because of fewer flights coming in and out of the airport.

Aviation DataMiner, a predictive analytics program from Boyd Group, predicts a 3.7% increase in passenger enplanements, or those boarding an aircraft, at the Baton Rouge airport in 2016. The program does not offer predictions on deplanements, or those who arrive in at a given airport.

Caldwell says the analysis is done by compiling several factors, including the airport’s load factor, seating capacity and the flights already scheduled for the coming months.

The best months for the Baton Rouge airport in 2015, and in years past, were in the second and third quarters, while the weaker months were the first and fourth quarters, Caldwell says. Baton Rouge is hurt in the winter months by not being considered a “destination market,” like New Orleans, Orlando and Las Vegas—meaning people fly to those markets for vacations to escape the cold up north and for vacations.

The Baton Rouge Metro Airport’s main competition for passengers in south Louisiana, the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, saw a 9.1% passenger increase in 2015. More than 10.9 million passengers flew out of New Orleans last year, a number that airport officials attributed to new nonstop flights and new airlines that have started using the airport. DataMiner predicts a 0.8% increase in passenger enplanement in New Orleans in 2016.

The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Gulfport, Mississippi, is a solid comparison to Baton Rouge, because the two airports are similar in size and capacity. The Gulfport airport suffered a decrease of nearly 11% in the number of total passengers in 2015, but, according to DataMiner estimates, that airport is projected to have a 2.6% increase in passengers enplanement in 2016.

Baton Rouge Metro Airport officials took steps this year to grow the airport. In November, Baton Rouge airport officials unveiled a detailed strategic plan to increase use of the airport and bring more direct flights to the Capital City. The plan focuses on stopping the “leakage” of local business travelers to New Orleans and other area airports. More than 60% of travelers in the Baton Rouge area opt to use airports outside the city, according to the report.

And the airport’s Board of Commissioners recently accepted a request for proposals from Holiday Inn representatives to study the feasibility of building a hotel with a Mike Anderson’s Seafood restaurant on the airport property. https://www.businessreport.com/article/baton-rouge-airport-official-blames-seating-capacity-reduction-4-decline-2015-passenger-count

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