January 9th, 2008
Myrtle Beach Direct Air is adding service between Plattsburgh, NY, and Myrtle Beach (as well as St. Petersburg, Fla.). Why do we care? Well, the airline is looking at adding Myrtle Beach service here sometime. CEO Judy Tull said two months ago it depends on whether the carrier can fit the route in its schedule with the airplanes it has. But it’s a good sign that they’re growing at a time when other carriers are cutting service.
January 9th, 2008
Here are the United year-end numbers. Not surprisingly, it showed a slight decrease in passenger: down 1.3 percent to 68 million worldwide. Its planes were on average 83 percent full.
Rockford’s tiny share on the Denver route was 56,000. Planes were a comparable 82 percent full, but again, the airport and the airline calculate that differently.
January 9th, 2008
Allegiant Air has gotten some bad press in recent weeks because of weather delays and cancellations, and a not-always good response to those events, according to passengers. Also, I’ve gotten some calls and comments from travelers who don’t like Allegiant’s model of charging lower fares, then charging extra fees for anything additional, such as checking baggage and choosing a seat ahead of time.
But a lot of people like Allegiant, according to numbers released this week. The airline had more than 3 million passengers on scheduled routes in 2007, a 55 percent increase over 2006. Its planes were on average 83 percent full, a slight increase from 2006’s 81 percent.
According to information provided by Chicago Rockford International Airport, almost 150,000 of those passengers - about 5 percent - flew in and out of Rockford. And while the airport and airline calculate how full airplanes are differently, it’s perhaps noteworthy that planes in and out of Rockford were on average 87 percent full. So our airport is doing its part in helping Allegiant grow.
We’ll see if this growth rate continues this year with such high fuel prices.
