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mitchella81

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Has anybody heard anything lately about the airport selling some land that is in front of wal-mart for some type of retail. I seem to recall sometime back they were going to sell that for some type of retail development.

I believe they are looking at the land near the terminal and radar tower that is currently being used for the rental car overflow parking and cleaning. its a big dirth lot just west of the main airport entrance.

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  • 2 weeks later...

DayJet comes to Columbus

Columbus travelers now have another transportation option for their business trips.

DayJet Corporation has added Columbus to its service network, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based jet service company announced Wednesday.

Columbus will serve as a DayStop for business travellers. Planes will fly out of Columbus Metropolitan Airport to seven locations in the Southeast: Savannah in Georgia, and the Florida cities of Pensacola, Tallahassee, Naples, Boca Raton, Gainesville and Lakeland. DayJet has 45 regional destinations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina.

Malcolm Murphy, DayJet manager of governmental and community affairs, said this will give local business travelers the alternative to fly to hard-to-reach regional markets without major airport hubs.

DayJet planes do not run on a set daily schedule. It depends on demand, providing customized travel according to a passenger's time and budget requirements.

DayJet travelers are required to pay a $250 annual fee to fly.

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  • 1 month later...

Air Evac Setting Up HQ at the Columbus Metro Airport

The Columbus Airport will soon be home to two new life-saving services. Air Evac is building a new permanent base, on the west side of the airport. The air ambulance service started flying in February.

On the east end of the airport, a new public safety building is going up. The $1.8 million project is being funded by the FAA and the airport. It will serve as a severe weather command center and feature living quarters as well as crash truck bays.

Construction is expected to be finished in July.

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Here's a not quite so radical idea...

How about moving the airport to a site at about the center of our CSA... just across the river near Smiths, AL ... maybe near the intersection of the new I-22 and I-85. Sell part of the current municipal airport over to private developers for mixed-use incorporating Peachtree Mall. Turn the rest over to CSU with room for a football stadium. You might could even leave a little landing strip for corporate planes.

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Here's a not quite so radical idea...

How about moving the airport to a site at about the center of our CSA... just across the river near Smiths, AL ... maybe near the intersection of the new I-22 and I-85. Sell part of the current municipal airport over to private developers for mixed-use incorporating Peachtree Mall. Turn the rest over to CSU with room for a football stadium. You might could even leave a little landing strip for corporate planes.

That's a cool idea, but one that would cost billions probably. That would definitely increase air travel in the region. Also, that would open up some of the best, if not the best, real estate in all of Columbus. I just hope more airline announcements will be coming soon! There has been a lot of activity with new projects at the airport. It's now time for another carrier!

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That's a cool idea, but one that would cost billions probably. That would definitely increase air travel in the region. Also, that would open up some of the best, if not the best, real estate in all of Columbus. I just hope more airline announcements will be coming soon! There has been a lot of activity with new projects at the airport. It's now time for another carrier!

With recent bankruptcies in the industry, and the news that the international routes are basically the most lucrative in the airline industry, it's now sadly but highly unlikely that any new airlines will be coming to the columbus airport. It is, more or less, a corporate and military airport now.

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With recent bankruptcies in the industry, and the news that the international routes are basically the most lucrative in the airline industry, it's now sadly but highly unlikely that any new airlines will be coming to the columbus airport. It is, more or less, a corporate and military airport now.

I wouldnt be so sure, CSG is greatly underserved for an MSA of its size with a decent local business market and steady demand from Ft. benning. What keeps the aviation demand so low right now is that fact that all flights go to Atlanta. If there were flights to other cities like Charlotte i tink you would see a good turnaround.

The other thing CSG has to offer, is theres no low cost competition like the major airlines face at most airports. While that means you folks will pay more for your ticket, the airlines these days are looking for markets where they can fill their planes at more of a premium than they can at markets with southwest air tran or jetblue.

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I wouldnt be so sure, CSG is greatly underserved for an MSA of its size with a decent local business market and steady demand from Ft. benning. What keeps the aviation demand so low right now is that fact that all flights go to Atlanta. If there were flights to other cities like Charlotte i tink you would see a good turnaround.

The other thing CSG has to offer, is theres no low cost competition like the major airlines face at most airports. While that means you folks will pay more for your ticket, the airlines these days are looking for markets where they can fill their planes at more of a premium than they can at markets with southwest air tran or jetblue.

I appreciate the perspective. In fact, CSG has in its recent past had other airlines, including the one based in Charlotte (is it USAir?). But you're right, Columbus' proximity to ATL is its main problem. Usually on the return trip you could have driven the hour and a half by the time you board the plane from the layover. The only benefit is avoiding the lines, parking, etc. But the couple of hundred or so saved usually makes it worth the hassle. Too, it's precisely the low-cost airlines that are struggling (NPR story here)most due to astronomical jet fuel costs. There's simply not enough demand for seats between Columbus and any one city, that's why Columbus flights must go through a hub like ATL, so that the passengers can disperse to their destinations. It's not just Columbus that has a hard time, it's all small cities like Columbus, but the proximity to Atlanta makes Columbus plight that much more challenging.

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I appreciate the perspective. In fact, CSG has in its recent past had other airlines, including the one based in Charlotte (is it USAir?). But you're right, Columbus' proximity to ATL is its main problem. Usually on the return trip you could have driven the hour and a half by the time you board the plane from the layover. The only benefit is avoiding the lines, parking, etc. But the couple of hundred or so saved usually makes it worth the hassle. Too, it's precisely the low-cost airlines that are struggling (NPR story here)most due to astronomical jet fuel costs. There's simply not enough demand for seats between Columbus and any one city, that's why Columbus flights must go through a hub like ATL, so that the passengers can disperse to their destinations. It's not just Columbus that has a hard time, it's all small cities like Columbus, but the proximity to Atlanta makes Columbus plight that much more challenging.

FRONTIER_BANKRUPTCY.sff.embedded.prod_affiliate.70.jpg

UPDATE:Frontier Joins List Of Airlines Filing For Bankruptcy - CNN

One of four to file within a month. As I indicated earlier, I think the fuel costs really impact Columbus' chance for airline expansion, at least to an Atlanta hub. The most fuel consuming part of a flight is altitude changes and that's all the flight from Columbus to Atlanta is...

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  • 3 months later...

I've mentioned it several times before about seeing airlines other than Delta aircraft at the Columbus Airport. The following photo was taken on Last Wed. from Reese Road. It's a little fuzzy, but if you look at the aircraft logo's it does show Airtran logos on aircraft parked at the Columbus Airport. I've seen Airtran Aircraft at the Airport quite alot recently. Maybe they could be getting ready to move into the market. I'm sure their prices would be much better than Delta's also.

post-14481-1215962868_thumb.jpg

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I've mentioned it several times before about seeing airlines other than Delta aircraft at the Columbus Airport. The following photo was taken on Last Wed. from Reese Road. It's a little fuzzy, but if you look at the aircraft logo's it does show Airtran logos on aircraft parked at the Columbus Airport. I've seen Airtran Aircraft at the Airport quite alot recently. Maybe they could be getting ready to move into the market. I'm sure their prices would be much better than Delta's also.

Unfortunately, in light of the new realities of the air transport industry (aka oil prices) AirTran has scaled back their expansion plans, selling off their committed aircraft deliveries for the rest of this year and next and announced job cuts for in-flight employees. Even if they were continuing expansion, CSG doesn't fit the profile of the destinations they are looking to add. Everything the AirTran rep says in this article about not adding service to Chattanooga applies to Columbus.

There are various reasons that equipment might be at CSG - charters, maintenance, mothballing - I wouldn't get my hopes up for an AirTran entry to that market.

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  • 2 months later...

it would be great to see the columbus georgia airport become a small international airport for the south and central part of the state but i dont think that will never happen not no time soon but however for columbus to bring in any more airline companys like delta airlines and united airlines or america airlines or any other airlines columbus is going to half to make there run ways longer and widder before they can bring in anymore airlines but if the columbus airport does decide they want to make there runways longer and widder one day they would not be able to because there is houses to close to the airport and with the houses being to close to the airport the airport would not have any room to widden the runways and plus if the columbus airport did bring in more airlines the people that live in them houses by the airport probably would not like the loud noises comeing from the airplanes landing and taking off and i think that sucks i think columbus screwed up when they built that airport there or when they built them houses there because now columbus can not widden there runways because them houses are there now so my idea is i wish columbus would just close that airport down and go find some more land some where else in the columbus area and start over building the new airport on a bigger piece of land where there is nothing around like houses or anything so they will have room to make the airport bigger and make the runways bigger and widder and longer but i wish that would happen but i dont think its going to be no time soon because i dont think columbus has that kind of money for a bigger piece of land to big a bigger airport on it but i wish columbus did have that kind of money because that would be nice to get a brand new bigger airport on a bigger piece of land

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  • 2 months later...

COLUMBUS AIRPORT POISED FOR COMEBACK

The following article was in todays newspaper

PASSENGERS AT COLUMBUS AIRPORT

1990 - 235,267

1991 - 248,757

1992 - 248,668

1993 - 249,485

1994 - 222,569

1995 - 207,089

1996 - 206,150

1997 - 202,612

1998 - 195,158

1999 - 191,297

2000 - 178,196

2001 - 155,943

2002 - 141,555

2003 - 108,787

2004 - 110,441

2005 - 98,969

2006 - 87,309

2007 - 91,754

2008 - 100,132

COLUMBUS AIRPORT SNAPSHOT

Location: 3250 West Britt David Road

Market: Columbus Metropolitan Airport's market area covers a 40-mile radius, with the airport handling more than 50,000 takeoffs and landings annually.

Impact: About 200 people are employed at the airport, which sprawls across 630 acres and has two runways totaling more than 7,000 feet. The estimated economic impact on the city is $70 million, according to an airport study.

That "gentleman's agreement" might be true for Delta and for 1-stop flights. Checking Orbitz, it's still alto cheaper to drive or Groome to ATL and fly. Take for instance a flight to Vegas. From Columbus: 1-stop=$678, 2-stop=$495. From ATL 1-stop=$608 (Orpeza's $70), but a NON-stop=$452. A USAir 1-stop = $313 (a $295 savings)... I don't see how Columbus Metro will ever be able to compete with ATL unless the traffic at ATL just become positively unbearable. It's landlocked so it can't grow much. It's just stuck in a bad situation...

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Good article in the Washington Post regarding small city airports.

American cities have long viewed a thriving commercial airport as a source of civic pride, a way to attract businesses and jobs, a selling point promising an easy connection to the outside world. Any community vibrant enough to support a respectable airport, the thinking goes, is a community that counts.

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That "gentleman's agreement" might be true for Delta and for 1-stop flights. Checking Orbitz, it's still alto cheaper to drive or Groome to ATL and fly. Take for instance a flight to Vegas. From Columbus: 1-stop=$678, 2-stop=$495. From ATL 1-stop=$608 (Orpeza's $70), but a NON-stop=$452. A USAir 1-stop = $313 (a $295 savings)... I don't see how Columbus Metro will ever be able to compete with ATL unless the traffic at ATL just become positively unbearable. It's landlocked so it can't grow much. It's just stuck in a bad situation...

Yikes...that's not good. I think the coup would be for Columbus to start planning a great regional airport. There is still land available I'm sure for a large scale airport. Why not put it in Chattahoochee County. I know Harris County is out of the question...although putting one as north as possible would help Columbus snag some of Hartsfield-Jackson's regional flights.

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Yikes...that's not good. I think the coup would be for Columbus to start planning a great regional airport. There is still land available I'm sure for a large scale airport. Why not put it in Chattahoochee County. I know Harris County is out of the question...although putting one as north as possible would help Columbus snag some of Hartsfield-Jackson's regional flights.

North and west is where growth is occurring... 64% of all new construction permits for 2008 were in Lee and Russell Counties. Chatt has an issue with lack of transportation (as-in, no Interstate access). If I-14 or I-22 was ever built, then maybe...

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Bad news out of Atlanta may siginal growth for Columbus Airport. An Atlanta tv station is reporting that some airlines are considering pulling out of Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport if new terms for the leases cannot be worked out. As has been discussed on this topic before Hartsfield limits CSG growth opportunities. If some airlines pull out of ATL they may consider starting service from secondary airports like COlumbus Metro to larger ones like Charlotte and Dallas just to keep a presence in the region.

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Bad news out of Atlanta may siginal growth for Columbus Airport. An Atlanta tv station is reporting that some airlines are considering pulling out of Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport if new terms for the leases cannot be worked out. As has been discussed on this topic before Hartsfield limits CSG growth opportunities. If some airlines pull out of ATL they may consider starting service from secondary airports like COlumbus Metro to larger ones like Charlotte and Dallas just to keep a presence in the region.

That is inaccurate and surely an Atlanta TV Station would not report such an inaccuracy.

Hartsfield-Jackson currently has one of the lowest per passenger fees of major airports. Somehow (rumor) a memo was sent to airlines at Hartsfield-Jackson stating that fees could possibly double. This is not definitive and both the aiport CEO and the Atlanta mayor has said no such fee increase has even been discussed. Delta has said that if the fee is increase, it would have to shift some overflow to Memphis (a Northwest hub) or Detriot (NW hub) or Cinncinati (Delta hub) to offset the increase. They would not shift to hub cities of other airlines if they already have inherited hubs due to the recent merger.

Clarification is that they have not said they would "pull out" of Atlanta. That is a flat out falsehood that should not be repeated. Also, this is a bargining ploy because fee structures and contracts are going to be renegotiate soon between the airlines and the airport. I highly doubt Delta and Hartsfield-Jackson will part ways. Let us not rush to spreading falsehoods....especially when something can be so easily researched.

If an Atlanta TV station did report such a thing, I would like to know which one so I can send these same sentiments to their general manager. Reporting such a thing would be sloppy reporting at best and flat out juvenile at worst.

North and west is where growth is occurring... 64% of all new construction permits for 2008 were in Lee and Russell Counties. Chatt has an issue with lack of transportation (as-in, no Interstate access). If I-14 or I-22 was ever built, then maybe...

How receptive would these locales be to having an airport in their jurisdictions?

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That is inaccurate and surely an Atlanta TV Station would not report such an inaccuracy.

Hartsfield-Jackson currently has one of the lowest per passenger fees of major airports. Somehow (rumor) a memo was sent to airlines at Hartsfield-Jackson stating that fees could possibly double. This is not definitive and both the aiport CEO and the Atlanta mayor has said no such fee increase has even been discussed. Delta has said that if the fee is increase, it would have to shift some overflow to Memphis (a Northwest hub) or Detriot (NW hub) or Cinncinati (Delta hub) to offset the increase. They would not shift to hub cities of other airlines if they already have inherited hubs due to the recent merger.

Clarification is that they have not said they would "pull out" of Atlanta. That is a flat out falsehood that should not be repeated. Also, this is a bargining ploy because fee structures and contracts are going to be renegotiate soon between the airlines and the airport. I highly doubt Delta and Hartsfield-Jackson will part ways. Let us not rush to spreading falsehoods....especially when something can be so easily researched.

If an Atlanta TV station did report such a thing, I would like to know which one so I can send these same sentiments to their general manager. Reporting such a thing would be sloppy reporting at best and flat out juvenile at worst.

How receptive would these locales be to having an airport in their jurisdictions?

Economic Developmentally speaking, I would think very. As for the exact location.... can you say 'NIMBY'?

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That is inaccurate and surely an Atlanta TV Station would not report such an inaccuracy.

Hartsfield-Jackson currently has one of the lowest per passenger fees of major airports. Somehow (rumor) a memo was sent to airlines at Hartsfield-Jackson stating that fees could possibly double. This is not definitive and both the aiport CEO and the Atlanta mayor has said no such fee increase has even been discussed. Delta has said that if the fee is increase, it would have to shift some overflow to Memphis (a Northwest hub) or Detriot (NW hub) or Cinncinati (Delta hub) to offset the increase. They would not shift to hub cities of other airlines if they already have inherited hubs due to the recent merger.

Clarification is that they have not said they would "pull out" of Atlanta. That is a flat out falsehood that should not be repeated. Also, this is a bargining ploy because fee structures and contracts are going to be renegotiate soon between the airlines and the airport. I highly doubt Delta and Hartsfield-Jackson will part ways. Let us not rush to spreading falsehoods....especially when something can be so easily researched.

If an Atlanta TV station did report such a thing, I would like to know which one so I can send these same sentiments to their general manager. Reporting such a thing would be sloppy reporting at best and flat out juvenile at worst.

How receptive would these locales be to having an airport in their jurisdictions?

I know it's hard to believe, but I read the article on Channel 2's website. I hate to hear the news as a native of Atlanta, but it was true I could not find the link to the article on WSBtv, but I did yahoo it and got several results quoted below is a article from a Philadelphia Newspaper that was written by Harry R. Weber for the Associated Press

Philly news article link

Article From Associated Press: Airlines Threaten to move flights from Atlanta

by Harry R. Weber

ATLANTA - Airlines that do business at the world's busiest airport are playing hardball in talks over new lease agreements, threatening to move some flights to other airports if they can't maintain competitive costs on fees they pay.

The master lease agreements that apply to airlines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport do not expire until September 2010, but talks between the sides have already heated up.

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's biggest carrier, and discount carrier AirTran Airways, a unit of Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran Holdings Inc., say that if their costs are too high they may be forced to move some connecting flights to other airports.

Neither Delta nor AirTran is considering pulling out of Atlanta altogether.

The two carriers represent roughly 93 percent of the traffic at Hartsfield-Jackson. The other 7 percent of traffic there is split between other carriers including AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, US Airways Group Inc., Continental Airlines Inc., UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and several foreign carriers.

Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta did not return calls to his home and cell phone Monday seeking comment. An airport spokesman declined to comment.

According to the airport, all the airlines that do business at the facility are expected to generate about $160 million in airport revenue in 2009, including property leases and landing fees.

Intertwined with the talks over new lease agreements is consternation over the status of the airport's $1.6 billion international terminal project, which is in jeopardy of being halted because of the airport's inability to secure $600 million in municipal bond financing.

On Nov. 13, DeCosta told The Associated Press that tight credit markets were to blame for the airport's inability to get the bond financing.

However, according to documents obtained Monday by AP, John Boatright, Delta's vice president of corporate real estate, sent a Sept. 10 letter to prospective underwriters of the airport's bond financing stating that Delta opposed the airport's capital improvement program, which includes the terminal project.

Delta's stance could factor into the underwriters' decision because the airline is the majority tenant of Hartsfield-Jackson.

The airport, which has a good credit rating, believes that because of tight credit markets it would not have been able to go to market for the bonds regardless of Delta's position.

DeCosta said in November that the airport was seeking federal financial assistance through a stimulus package that would benefit municipal governments, and by extension the airport, which is run by the city of Atlanta. But with banks, automakers, states and even cities looking to the government for help amid the worst economic downturn in decades, it could be a tough sell for the airport, he said.

Construction work on the international terminal project at the airport began last summer and is scheduled to be completed by 2012, airport officials have said. More than $300 million has already been spent, according to DeCosta.

The plan for the Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal was part of a broader expansion project at the airport that included a fifth runway. The runway was completed in May 2006.

One of Delta's concerns has been the price of the terminal project and how that might factor into the amount of the airline's future costs for using the airport.

Boatright said in a Jan. 13 letter to DeCosta that the airline must understand its long-term financial future at the airport before it can commit to major capital investments. He cautioned that roughly two-thirds of Atlanta's traffic is able to be connected over other Delta hubs, including Memphis, Tenn.; Cincinnati; and Detroit. Delta picked up Memphis and Detroit as hubs after acquiring Northwest Airlines.

"Our position is that Delta's success in Atlanta, which translates not only to the airport's success but also the city's, is based on a foundation of a collaborative relationship that we have had with the city for more than 30 years," Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said.

Tad Hutcheson, a spokesman for AirTran Airways, said the carrier moved flights from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., to Pensacola, Fla., in 2001 after Fort Walton Beach raised rents. He said AirTran is working with the airport, but would consider moving some flights out of Atlanta if suitable new lease agreements can't be reached at Hartsfield-Jackson.

"We look at each flight on a flight-by-flight basis and airport costs are huge components of the cost to operate a flight," Hutcheson said. "And if those costs become uncompetitive, we will take actions up to and including canceling a flight or moving it to another city."

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The above article was published on1/19/09. Here is one from USA today that was published yesterday.

USA Today: Airlines Threaten to move flights to Memphis

Delta and AirTran say they might move some flights out of Atlanta if the airport does not keep costs in check. The two carriers operate large hubs there and account for about 93% of Atlanta's air traffic. The Associated Press writes the airlines apparently "are playing hardball (with the airport) in talks over new lease agreements
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