Why can’t (insert your airport here) keep airlines?
March 20th, 2008 at 06:32pm Thomas V. Bona
The minute we broke news that United Airlines was leaving Rockford, the moans started - ranging from “Why can’t Rockford keep airlines?” to “See, I told you!”
Admittedly, it’s been a bumpy rides. Since 2003, six airlines that have started service here have pulled out. But there are some key points of context:
1. The ones who have stayed - including Rockford’s largest, Allegiant Air - have packed planes. The number of nonstop destinations keep increasing and, if the airport isn’t at a record for destinations at one time, it will be in June.
2. Despite the ups and downs in airlines, passenger totals have steadily increased: 2,400 in 2002, 34,000 in 2003, 94,000 in 2004, 154,000 in 2005, 172,000 in 2006; and 215,000 in 2007. The airport set a single-month record last month and expects to do it again this month.
3. Cuts are happening everywhere! Delta and United announced this week they were cutting back across their systems and, a week after Skybus started service in Gary, Ind, it cut service in half. Airport officials say Frontier Airlines would love to serve Rockford, but is being conservative during this stormy weather.
Bottom line - Rockford’s situation is not out of line with other airports in the country that see service come and go. What is out of line, so far, is it continues to steadily increase despite those cuts.
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6 Comments Add your own
1. ANCJason | March 22nd, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Well said, Thomas. And, out of all the airports in the U.S. that have lost service, only RFD has replaced it.
Here’s something for all the naysayers regarding RFD: In 1979, Midway had two airlines and four destinations. Nobody wanted to use it because O’hare was only 20 years old. Midway is now #28 in the nation, and can’t grow much more.
I believe RFD is transitioning into the stage of air service development immediately after where Midway was in 1979. Except RFD doesn’t have a finite limit to growth.
2. rfdbusinessman | March 23rd, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Looks like the charters for starters program is back in play, which I think can be a good thing for RFD right now. I do not work in the automotive or manufacturing industry but, in the past, when I have flown to Detroit the aircraft was mostly to completely full. This should work with the right aircraft and airline.
Denver - the door is wide open for Frontier to come in at the right time.
I think they will once this stormy period passes. Agreed it is tough to see United depart. In my mind they are far and away the legacy carrier best suited to serve RFD.
Mexican flights. Can Gary REALLY physically get a customs station up and running by August or September of this year ? Is that possible ? Even if so, VivaAerobus is not our only potential option. I believe there are at least two other low cost Mexican airlines that could be good fits as well. Sure seems like there would be enough market share for both Gary and RFD to benefit.
Skybus. Good potential fit here but not to Greensboro or Columbus. If they can stay afloat, their time will come at RFD to the right places.
With a terrific board and solid leadership and staff, RFD is going to be just fine.
3. Thomas V. Bona | March 26th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Jason - Thanks for your comments and kind words, both here and in other forums. Do you happen to be on Airliners.net?
I think the comparison to Midway is apt, especially because Midway’s success has been due to low-cost, non-legacy carriers like Southwest, AirTran, ATA (hey, remember them?) and Frontier. The legacy carriers they have are all small, regional routes, not mainline ones.
Bob O’Brien frequently talks about drawing airlines that aren’t at O’Hare but are at Midway … he says they can succeed by drawing passengers from each side of O’hare without being there. That’s why Southwest has been mentioned prominently. AirTran would be nice, but since they’re fighting for MKE, I doubt they’ll come here soon. ATA … I’m going to miss them, even if the planes they used to use to get to New York were rather rickety.
Frontier makes all sorts of sense, especially with United pulling out of the Denver route here, and Frontier only running six flights a day between MDW and DEN and three flights a day between MKE and DEN. They have room for growth in Chicagoland, but they’re holding back because of financial constraints.
I think it’s interesting to note that the plan with Southern Skyways here in Rockford is to “prove” these Detroit and Denver routes and then, in a year or two, attract a bigger airline to come in and take the routes over. I know an airline that flies to both Denver and Detroit … and Jackson Hole. Someday, perhaps…
Jason, thanks for your insight. Let me know if you have any story ideas or questions I should look into.
4. Thomas V. Bona | March 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am
rfdbusinessman,
Thanks for reading and for your comment. You’re right, this is basically “Charters for Starters” … Bob O’Brien said it was 90 percent the same as the plan floated last year. A lot cheaper though.
On Frontier/Denver - see my above points. They’d make all sorts of sense.
On United - I don’t know, with their hub just down the road and a popular frequent flier program, I don’t think RFD will ever get the big-time United fans from the northwest suburbs to come here. Maybe, as you said, when the storm passes, but the only way I could see UAL succeed here is if they upped the frequency and had both an eastern and western route. Not sure they’ll ever take that chance.
On Mexican flights in Gary - All things are possible when MAyor Daley is on your side, and that’s GYY’s X-factor. Daley would rather GYY succeed (it’s officially part of the Chicago airport system) than Peotone get built. They *can* get a Customs station up, the question is *will* they? You’re right, though, there’s more than enough demand for a second low-cost Mexican carrier to come here.
Skybus - Who knows. The CEO is gone, so maybe the people who thought MKE and GYY were better than RFD won’t have as much sway. I’m biased, but I think Skybus woulda done a lot better to have Chicago (through Rockford or Gary) as its first hub, bringing flights from all over the country here. Columbus is a good second hub, and a surprisingly big city, but Greensboro seemed silly.
Thanks again for reading and commenting.
5. Joe | March 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Here’s my problem with this arraignment: The brain trust consists of three people who ran Vacation Express (who failed in selling seats on a flight from Rockford to Fort Lauderdale) and one person who ran TransMeridian Airlines (who failed in operating the Rockford-Fort Lauderdale flights for Vacation Express, as well as flights from Rockford to Orlando and Las Vegas, all routes where Allegiant Air is successfully operating flights today). What makes anyone think that Southern Skyways can successfully operate these flights, especially after both of these routes have failed multiple times and , in the case of Denver, with multiple carriers?
Another possible road block is the fact that Southern Skyways (which isn’t an airline so much as a brand - they contract out all their flying out to other, even lesser known charter airlines) flights don’t appear to be listed on the major travel web sites like Travelocity and the like. How are the business travelers that the airport is trying so hard to court from Denver and Detroit going to know that these flights even exist?
6. ANCJason | March 27th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Joe,
Book a flight on Travelocity between MDW and ISP or LAS and PHX. Please note that Southwest doesn’t appear, yet they carry the most passengers and are the low cost leader in these city pairs. Southwest doesn’t pay the fees to use these types of travel booking engines, either. Neither does Allegiant.
I have my doubts, as well. However, I do plan on flying to Detroit from Rockford for less than $200, which is $60 more than if I fly from O’Hare on the same dates, but is only $25 more if I were to take the Van Galder Bus to O’Hare. We don’t need to even mention the parking rates at O’Hare.
Add on the convenience of not having to commute, not spending almost two hours in ticketing, security, and walking all the way to my gate, and I don’t see how O’hare can compare.
If local companies can’t see this, then they need new Accountants.
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