Columbia Metropolitan Airport

[gamecoxfan1]

I hope this new guy can really get the airport of the ground in service and popularity!

[krazeeboi]

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd is in town today to make his public presentations regarding the airport's future. This morning, he said Columbia officials and airline passengers should not panic about Southwest Airline's decision to fly into Greenville and Charleston; instead, they should put their efforts into convincing Delta and Continental, airlines already serving the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, to provide better service and lower fares by flying larger jets from Columbia. The focus, he said, should be on attracting international business to Columbia rather than trying to get a low-cost airline to fly families domestically.

[CorgiMatt]

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd is in town today to make his public presentations regarding the airport's future. This morning, he said Columbia officials and airline passengers should not panic about Southwest Airline's decision to fly into Greenville and Charleston; instead, they should put their efforts into convincing Delta and Continental, airlines already serving the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, to provide better service and lower fares by flying larger jets from Columbia. The focus, he said, should be on attracting international business to Columbia rather than trying to get a low-cost airline to fly families domestically.

That link brought up an apology for the page not being there anymore. Here's another article. I think CAE will be fine.

http://www.columbiabusinessreport.com/news/34863-columbia-metro-airport-can-thrive-without-southwest?rss=0

[krazeeboi]

The Columbia Metropolitan Airport will apply for a federal grant of up to $10 million to counter Southwest Airlines' planned service to Greenville and Charleston. The money, if received from the U.S. Department of Transportation, would be used to help persuade Delta Air Lines or one of the airport's other carriers to fly larger planes out of Columbia. That means more seats would be available and, in theory, lower fares, said Dan Mann, airport's executive director.

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd noted that despite having some of the highest fares in the country, Columbia still boasts the nation's five major international carriers, which fly to eight national hubs. That makes it possible for business fliers to get here easily from anywhere in the world, which is the airport's core mission. He said the airport should work with its current carriers to add seats, rather than trying to attract a discount airline.

Delta, rather than US Airways, is the most likely candidate, Boyd said, because US Airways is already benefitting from the Midlands passengers flying out of its hub in Charlotte, so it would be less likely to add seats.

Midlands political leaders are also vowing to unite to better compete with the Upstate and the Lowcountry to attract investment and jobs. During the Midlands Aviation Summit in Columbia yesterday, an informal committee of regional elected officials said they would work to unite their fragmented economic development efforts, organize their chambers of commerce into a coalition, and encourage their state lawmakers to form a caucus. The Upstate and Lowcountry already have similar alliances, which use all a region’s advantages to attract business that are credited with attracting big scores, such as BMW and Boeing.

In the Midlands, however, Lexington County and Richland County and, to a large part their municipalities, have been divided not only by a river, but by political allegiances. Economic development efforts have been individual, and there’s been little regional cooperation.

[GvilleSC]

And, this guy is seriously getting paid?? I'd be outraged, if this were my tax dollars "at work".

I think the regional cooperation effort will be the best thing for the region and attracting business.

[krazeeboi]

And, this guy is seriously getting paid?? I'd be outraged, if this were my tax dollars "at work".

Why?

[gs3]

And, this guy is seriously getting paid?? I'd be outraged, if this were my tax dollars "at work".

I would want my tax dollars back from this guy. He "boast" that Columbia has flights to 8 hubs and all the major mainline carriers. That seriously needs to improve. GSP curently has all the same mainline carriers and flights to 12 hubs and additional cities when you add Allegiant flights and non hub flights on the mainline carriers. All before Southwest comes.

As a weekly flyer, I do have a basic understanding of the air industry from chatting with pilots, employees and watching the system in general. This Boyd guy talks about getting Delta to bring in larger planes and lower fares. If the passenger traffic was there, Delta would have brought in larger planes by now. This Boyd guy also seems to miss the fact that Southwest is one of the top two or three airlines in the US as regards transporting business passengers. The days of Southwest planes being filled with families flying cheap to Disney are long gone.....other airlines like Allegiant took over that niche. Southwest is basicly now a mainline airline, with low cost prices, and less reliance on true hubs.

[GvilleSC]

Why?

How is this going to help? Ok, so local governments are going to start using the airlines that offer larger planes and possibly lower rates. How much do they really fly and to where? Enough to fill up these larger airplanes? I hope not for the sake of the Midland tax payers! They want to attract business travelers... well, that's good, but business travelers aren't typically at odds with the price of flying, are they? And how much flying do the region's top businesses do? The State and the University should not be using it extensively.

Ok, so they're thinking that the EMPTY seats on flights is going to drive the prices down by a supply/demand formula. But, no airline is going to offer empty seats in an effort to lose money. And, that's why they're applying for their life support grant from the Federal government... Wouldn't federal transportation dollars be better spend on high speed rail or even maintaining some of that 'famously hot' asphalt that is so abundant?

Can someone please point out where the positives are? No, not just keeping the airport open and carriers flying. Rather, can someone please explain how CAE is going to significantly lower its fares for the average citizen and PREVENT its residents from driving 90 minutes to GSP, Charleston, or Charlotte?

Oh, and this guy said GSP would have a hard time support Southwest... yes, the expert.

[krazeeboi]

They want to attract business travelers... well, that's good, but business travelers aren't typically at odds with the price of flying, are they?

Uhhh, yes. Otherwise, why was GSP courting Southwest?

Wouldn't federal transportation dollars be better spend on high speed rail or even maintaining some of that 'famously hot' asphalt that is so abundant?

Well you should probably take that up with the feds, not Columbia. The federal grant is specifically directed towards airports. And the last time I looked, "abundant asphalt" is very, very plentiful in Greenville as well so I'm not sure why that jab was even necessary. You act like there's a world-class light rail system over there or something. Furthermore, Columbia did indeed recently get its fair share of dollars (from the same source Greenville got its funds--ARRA) to resurface several city streets. It might be nice to actually know what you're talking about here before talking about it. Furthermore, I didn't hear the same criticism about the incentives from the state level that were proposed to lure low-cost carriers to the state. I think the Southern Connector could use those funds, no?

Can someone please point out where the positives are? No, not just keeping the airport open and carriers flying. Rather, can someone please explain how CAE is going to significantly lower its fares for the average citizen and PREVENT its residents from driving 90 minutes to GSP, Charleston, or Charlotte?

Well I wasn't at the summit. The newspaper article was just a snippet concerning a day-long forum and considering how sloppy journalism is these days, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the main points were left out or otherwise muddled.

Oh, and this guy said GSP would have a hard time support Southwest... yes, the expert.

I suppose time will tell.

He certainly appears to be an expert to me.

[krazeeboi]

US Airways is starting new service from CAE to LaGuardia.

[krazeeboi]

Local governments and the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce have pledged enough money to fund Columbia Metro Airport’s application for a $750,000 federal grant to improve service. The airport plans to file later this month in hopes of receiving the grant to promote better and more affordable air service in mid-sized cities. The grant program from the U.S. Department of Transportation is called the Small Community Air Service Development Program. It would provide $750,000 to use as incentive money. In this case, according to Dan Mann, the Columbia Metro executive director, that money would be used to prod one airline into bring larger planes into Columbia -- by offsetting the airline’s risk of a loss.

[krazeeboi]

I was reading an article in the NY Times about Southwest Airlines turning 40, and I thought about CAE when I read this part:

With AirTran, Southwest will inherit a fleet of 86 Boeing 717s that it will have to integrate into its operations. Mr. Kelly says those planes will provide more flexibility, allowing Southwest to serve lower-traffic cities that would be uneconomical to serve with the larger 737.

Any thoughts?

[krazeeboi]

Airport officials are expecting Amazon.com's arrival to give the commercial cargo hub a substantial boost. Company executive Fred Kiga cited the airport’s closeness, and the presence of Federal Express and United Parcel Service shipping hubs there as among the main reasons that Amazon.com selected the Midlands for the facility. CAE ranks among the top 10% of nearly 400 airports in the nation in the amount of freight handled, but freight levels have declined from a year ago, mainly due to the recession.

[krazeeboi]

Vision Airlines, a low-cost airline headquartered in Atlanta, announced Tuesday non-stop air service from the Columbia Metropolitan Airport to Destin/Fort Walton Beach, FL and Sanford/Orlando, FL. The service is expected to begin April 1. Flights will operate two days a week and fares will start at an introductory rate of $49 each way if booked before January 23. After the introductory period, fares will range from $69-$199 each way.

[krazeeboi]

The state Transportation Commission on Thursday voted to seek about $388 million in bond money to pay for the John Hardee Expressway. The plan is to use about $63 million of the motorist-funded pot of money to match some $14 million in federal and local contributions to construct an interchange and the 3/4-mile stretch of four-lane highway to Columbia Metropolitan Airport’s doorstep. If everything goes smoothly, construction should start by the summer of 2012.

[krazeeboi]

Vision Airlines will stop service to Destin, Fla., from Columbia Metropolitan Airport July 17 — after just 3 1/2 months of service, airport spokeswoman Lynne Douglas said Monday. Douglas said the airline also is stopping service from Greenville; Huntsville, Ala.; Savannah, Ga.; and Baton Rouge, La.

[vicupstate]

Where is Destin, BTW?

Florida panhandle

No wonder it didn't last.

[SCxpBrussel]

It is frustrating to watch low-cost airlines struggle in Columbia. In my opinion, the business models of the airlines that failed at CAE are flawed. Two flights a week is not enough to build a customer base - most people have more important factors in determining when to take a trip than when one relatively unknown budget airline offers its two flights per week. Low-cost airlines can succeed here if they follow the Independence Air model of offering flights every day to a hub airport. I know Independence Air eventually went bankrupt, but they certainly did well at CAE, eventually offering direct flights to Florida, bypassing the Dulles hub.

I hope CAE and the governmental bodies of the Midlands get their act together and get Southwest here as soon as possible. My understanding from people who were involved in the process is that Southwest's rejection of CAE had nothing to do with Columbia but had everything to do with the landing fees at CAE and the general lack of governmental cooperation in the Midlands. Southwest apparently felt Greenville and Columbia were very similar markets, but chose GSP because of its lower fees and coordinated recruitment efforts.

[thefuture]

Whatever happened to runway expansion? At one time the runways where suppose to be extended over the road making them over 10,000 feet. That would help slot with the heavy cargo aircraft.

Also, when is the new road from the interstate to the airport suppose to start?

[krazeeboi]

CAE is going to shrivel up and die.

Thankfully, it appears as though this prediction isn't quite panning out. The airport, which is trying to turn around a six-year decline in passenger traffic, reported 492,458 passengers boarded flights at Columbia in 2011. That’s just 140, or .03% less than 2010’s mark of 492,598. Of course, more work needs to be done to make the airport more competitive, but so far it doesn't appear that Southwest was the death knell many were predicting (or even hoping) it would be.

[lucjanrc]

So much for shriveling up and dying...

CAE is off to an awesome start this year with passenger numbers up 8.1% for January, 12.4% for February, and 8.3% for March. Can't wait to see the impact of the new Newark service which starts September 6th, the new New York-Laguardia service which starts July 11th, and the 200 seat increase on Delta Airlines which starts June 8th.

[growingup15]

So much for shriveling up and dying...

CAE is off to an awesome start this year with passenger numbers up 8.1% for January, 12.4% for February, and 8.3% for March. Can't wait to see the impact of the new Newark service which starts September 6th, the new New York-Laguardia service which starts July 11th, and the 200 seat increase on Delta Airlines which starts June 8th.

that might be a good increase for the airport.

just a thought. you think all the new businesses in Columbia like amazon and all the companies growing around it. and new places downtown might increase more national travels at the airport also as people do more business travels and deliveries and stuff.

[lucjanrc]

I wonder if any airlines will start service from Columbia to Orlando after Nephron Pharm opens.

[carolinagarnet]

I believe there is already a Columbia-Orlando flight. I used to take it while I was at USC.

[lucjanrc]

Not anymore, there used to be on Delta Airlines.