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Columbia Metropolitan Airport


krazeeboi

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  • 1 month later...

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I can't tell you how many articles I've read about corporate relocations in Atlanta, Charlotte, etc. that cited their airports as factors driving the decisions to locate there. Things like number of flights to multiple destinations, overall air traffic, etc. count when it comes to this.

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  • 1 month later...

Columbia Metropolitan Airport's connections to hubs in Atlanta, Chicago and New York are dragging down its on-time arrivals, according to a report released today. Because of backups in those mega-airports, Columbia has the fifth worst rate for late flights in the country, a Brookings Institution study found. New York's airports were the tardiest, followed by Palm Bay/Melbourne, Fla.; Portland, Maine; and Philadelphia. Columbia was tied with Atlanta for fifth place.

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  • 7 months later...

Today's announcement that Southwest will commence service to GSP and CHS, while good news for those communities and the state as a whole, is a real blow to CAE. It seems that Southwest has decided--perhaps once and for all--to skip Columbia. I hope this will refocus CAE's management towards recruiting AirTran and stop wasting their time going after Southwest. I know Southwest is the 'holy grail' of low cost air carriers, but I've always found AirTran to be an acceptable way to fly. Perhaps we should start a grassroots campaign to bring AirTran to CAE?

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Something will definitely have to be done here. Regional leaders had better be working overtime to lure some sort of low-cost carrier to CAE. If this doesn't light a fire under their behinds, nothing will.

I'd also imagine that CLT is going to see a noticeable decrease in SC passengers as well, and might even lose some Charlotte passengers to GSP.

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Something will definitely have to be done here. Regional leaders had better be working overtime to lure some sort of low-cost carrier to CAE. If this doesn't light a fire under their behinds, nothing will.

I'd also imagine that CLT is going to see a noticeable decrease in SC passengers as well, and might even lose some Charlotte passengers to GSP.

What regional leaders? This is the most rudderless place I've ever lived in. Columbia can't ever seem to get its act together - CAE is going to shrivel up and die.

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Today's announcement that Southwest will commence service to GSP and CHS, while good news for those communities and the state as a whole, is a real blow to CAE. It seems that Southwest has decided--perhaps once and for all--to skip Columbia. I hope this will refocus CAE's management towards recruiting AirTran and stop wasting their time going after Southwest. I know Southwest is the 'holy grail' of low cost air carriers, but I've always found AirTran to be an acceptable way to fly. Perhaps we should start a grassroots campaign to bring AirTran to CAE?

AirTran failed at CHS, which is a busier airport as well as more of a tourist destination than CAE. Don't you think CAE would be better served going after a Jet Blue or Frontier?

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What regional leaders? This is the most rudderless place I've ever lived in. Columbia can't ever seem to get its act together - CAE is going to shrivel up and die.

Nice way to introduce yourself on a new board. Just to let you know, we don't make it habit of simply throwing out "hit and run" statements here on UP. We encourage in-depth discussion and dialogue, so I hope you will be making useful contributions in that regard.

At any rate, by "regional leaders" I'm referring to the mayor, city/county council, regional chamber of commerce, etc. And no, CAE isn't going to shrivel up and die. CAE will want to try and lure some other low-cost carrier or at least adopt the PTI model, which has not shriveled up and died despite close proximity to RDU, which has Southwest.

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AirTran left CHS because they weren't attracting enough business passengers. I believe the article in The State said passenger loads on planes to CHS were high (>75%), but the route attracted too few business travelers, with their higher average fares. CAE is half the size of CHS, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to think the business traffic is higher in Columbia.

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It will certainly hurt CAE for Southwest to go into Charleston and GSP. I bet they skipped the incentives so they can leave if they don't do well. I checked SW fares (to where I fly) out of Raleigh and Jacksonville and they weren't that much better than my advance fares out of CAE. I have to save $200 to consider Charlotte so I'd have to have the same savings to fly out of Charleston.

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^Thanks. If it was a lack of business travelers, then you're right. Maybe JetBlue would be the one to court?

If there's something that Columbia should learn in all of this, it's that the city/region needs to increase its business profile and work aggressively towards that end. You can utilize USC's presence as an asset towards that end, but the region is not well-served by letting them take the lead on that effort solely.

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In The State newspaper this morning an aviation consultant says Columbia has no chance of drawing a low-cost airline with SW so close. He says you can't just go to the low-cost airline store and pick one out. He says it won't kill Columbia's air service, but it will make it a challenge. I'm not the least bit optimistic.

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This is only an economic death knell if regional leaders let it be. Again, I point to PTI in Greensboro which is sandwiched between RDU (which has Southwest) and CLT (US Airways hub). The only low-cost carrier it has is Allegiant, and while the airport could be doing better, it's still very much a viable airport and has largely succeeded by luring industrial developments (FedEx hub, Honda Jet headquarters, etc.). This had better be a wakeup call of the highest order. Also, I think the amount of business that CAE would lose to GSP and CHS depends on the initial routes Southwest chooses for both airports. Another concern is that the locals in particular would have to support Southwest over the legacy carriers who will drop their fares as well in order to compete.

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Also, I think the amount of business that CAE would lose to GSP and CHS depends on the initial routes Southwest chooses for both airports. Another concern is that the locals in particular would have to support Southwest over the legacy carriers who will drop their fares as well in order to compete.

I don't think you can expect legacy carriers at CAE to drop their fares to be more competitive with Southwest service at GSP and CHS. If nearby airports were that influential, I would have expected legacy carriers at GSP to drop their fares to be more competitive with CLT and ATL (especially since it has been estimated that 66% of potential passengers at GSP have been going to CLT and ATL instead). But the legacy carriers at GSP have been happy, because their planes are full or mostly full, despite fares being among the highest in the nation. I guess there were enough business travelers willing to pay the higher fees at GSP for the added convenience.

If the legacy carriers at CAE are able to fill their planes to a reasonably desirable level, while still keeping fares high, they will have no reason to change what they are doing - regardless of how many people are driving from Columbia to nearby airports for cheaper flights.

I suppose one option would be for CAE to subsidize fares somehow with assistance from local government and/or local business leaders. This could be a temporary strategy for a few years until CAE figures out what it is going to do.

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Brookgreen, your last post has been moved to a more appropriate thread. Continue the discussion there.

I suppose one option would be for CAE to subsidize fares somehow with assistance from local government and/or local business leaders. This could be a temporary strategy for a few years until CAE figures out what it is going to do.

That will be the short-term solution. We'll see what happens in the long run.

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  • 5 weeks later...

CAE has hired a nationally known aviation consultant, Michael Boyd, to help it plot its future in light of Southwest's arrival elsewhere in the state. Boyd, president of Colorado-based Boyd Group International, will come to Columbia and make public presentations on the aviation marketplace on June 29, airport executive director Dan Mann said Monday. Boyd’s presentations will address possible low-cost competitors for Southwest and other options to keep the airport’s service intact.

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I hope part of the agenda includes a plan to work to debunk the widely held perception that CAE is always more expensive than driving elsewhere. I've been surprised to find that, on some routes, Columbia is competitive with and even beats Charlotte. This is particularly true for long-haul domestic and international flights. Admittedly, Charlotte is usually somewhat cheaper, but when you factor in time, convenience, and fuel costs, flying out of CAE can sometimes be within $50 of a flight from CLT. For me, personally, this makes CAE an easy choice. There are instances when CLT is significantly cheaper, especially for flights along the East Coast, but it is still worth including CAE and factoring in the time-convenience-fuel cost savings. Also, for the frequent flyers among us, avoiding CLT helps to avoid US Airways, an airline I avoid like the plague when flying domestic - their customer service is poor and there is no in-flight entertainment on any flight within the continental US. I'd much rather fly Continental or even Delta, so I'd rather pay a slight premium to fly an airline I like. In my opinion, there is more to a flight than the cheapest fare. CAE should seek to educate the public about all of its advantages, even when fares might not be among them.

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