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Web posted April 16, 2000
Have a thought? Go to the @ugusta Forums.
Go to the Solutions 2000 page
Or maybe not.
Like the real estate business, aviation experts say, when it comes to airports everything is ``location, location, location.''
Just because you've got a bigger airport doesn't mean more planes are going to start flying in, one airport executive recently said. It takes a lot more than that.
Analysts say Augusta has two problems hampering its hopes for more service and cheaper tickets. The first is that other than a few weeks in April when everyone is thinking of the Masters Tournament, Augusta is not on the minds of tourists. A second problem is that Augusta is within driving distance to and from airports in Atlanta and Columbia.
Whether its public perception or personal experience, business travelers and tourists alike love to gripe about air service, ticket prices, the size of the aircraft, even parking problems at Augusta Regional Airport at Bush Field.
It is for these reasons that the airport and airline service at Bush Field made the Solutions 2000 list of the region's top 15 problems.
Solutions 2000 is a collaborative effort of The Augusta Chronicle and Leadership Augusta to make the community look a little closer at the city's biggest headaches and, it is hoped, come up with ways to solve them.
In January, The Chronicle, based on community feedback, compiled a list of the most important issues facing the city and its future. The first story, on airport concerns appeared last month. Readers were asked to respond to that article with feedback and possible ways of solving these problems.
Several readers suggested building a true regional airport, some kind of joint effort between South Carolina and Georgia, and locating it halfway between Augusta and Columbia.
Other readers suggested luring more regional jet service and other airlines to Augusta with tax incentives or other freebies.
Augusta aviation officials say a second airline would help drive down the cost of airfare out of Augusta while improving the level of service.
But getting that airline to come to Augusta is a challenge, they say.
Airport Marketing Director David Dorminey spent the past few weeks trying to generate more interest in service to Augusta. He contacted sixteen airlines, including Continental, Southwest, Northwest, American and TWA.
Out of the group, only two -- Midway and USAirways Express -- showed interest in bringing service to Augusta. Representatives of both were in town and met with Augusta airport officials during Masters Week.
Midway Airlines expressed interest in new service to Augusta and their route structure (service to Northeast business markets) is a good strategic fit, Mr. Dorminey said. But the company is limited in its number of jets and indicated the time frame for introduction of service is likely one or two years.
Mr. Dorminey said USAirways Express has committed to a more concentrated marketing and sales effort in the Augusta area. But expansion of service is a unlikely as jets are currently committed to other markets, Mr. Dorminey said.
Most airline officials told Mr. Dorminey they do have interest in the Augusta market, but they also have concerns, including Delta Air Lines' dominant presence, ticket pricing, market size and strategic importance.
``Augusta represents no more opportunity than quite a large number of other communities soliciting service,'' Mr. Dorminey recently told the Augusta Aviation Commission.
To move up on the list of communities trying to improve air service, Mr. Dorminey said Augusta businesses need to support the local airport by using it instead of Atlanta or Columbia.
National and state legislators need to meet more often with airline officials and show how important service is to the area, Mr. Dorminey said.
State Rep. Robin Williams said this week that he and state Sen. Don Cheeks are now talking about ways to bring a second major airline to Augusta. Tax breaks on jet fuel and/or discounted office space at the terminal are two options being bandied about, Mr. Williams said.
Similarly, the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce's Air Service Task Force has talked about offering free local radio and newspaper advertising as part of a package to attract a new airline to the region.
Another tool for Augusta airport officials to use is new federal legislation designed to help regional airports develop.
U.S. House Bill 1000, known as AIR 21, provides significant federal funding for regional airport improvement programs as well as grants to help regional airlines purchase regional jet aircraft, making smaller markets -- such as Augusta -- more attractive to small jet companies.
Airport officials will be working with Georgia's U.S. Senate offices to apply for the funding, Mr. Dorminey said.
Part of Augusta's problem, airport officials say, is the perception that airline tickets are always cheaper out of Atlanta or Columbia than out of Augusta. As a result, airport officials say travel agents tend to send people to Atlanta or Columbia for what they think is the cheaper deal.
Mr. Dorminey said a recent survey of Delta's fares shows that's not always true.
The 21-day trip advance round trip ticket price from Augusta to New York is $252. From Columbia, the same ticket costs $224 and from Atlanta, the ticket costs $212.
The ticket from Augusta to Chicago is $256. The price from Columbia to Chicago is $242. From Atlanta, the ticket is much cheaper: $138.
The roundtrip ticket to Philadelphia is $238 from either Augusta or from Columbia. The ticket is $158 from Atlanta.
The ticket to Boston is cheaper from Augusta than it is from Columbia: $192 to $218. But the ticket from Atlanta to Boston is $152.
If you throw in gas, parking fees and the 2' hour drive to Atlanta, the difference in cost dwindles, airport officials say.
A report recently given to the Northwest Chapter of American Association of Airport Executives shows that in the last decade some 85 percent of cities lost air travel service because they were located within a three hour driving time radius of a major airport.
Essentially, airlines know people will drive two to three hours to get to an airport, said Michael Hodges, president of Airport Business Solutions, a Georgia-based company that focuses primarily on private airports.
Augusta is located an hour from Columbia's airport and is about a 2'-hour drive to Atlanta.
In theory, increased use, marketing, tax breaks and a nice new airport are all good ways to improve air service in a community, said Dr. Ballard Barker, an aviation expert at the Florida Institute of Technology, but in reality they are probably not enough to change the quality or quantity of service at Augusta.
Deregulation of the airline industry in 1978 and 1979 changed the way these companies did business, Dr. Barker said.
``They became just like any other profit-making business: They moved their assets, cut their costs, and made sure they made a profit for shareholders,'' he said. ``Georgia is dominated by Delta and nothing is going to change that. Augusta will have great difficulty attracting other airlines because (competing airlines) know it is very difficult to capture a market share.''
During a meeting in Atlanta last month, Delta Air Lines officials admitted as much and said air service is likely to get worse, not better, for Augusta air travelers.
They said the low number of passengers per flight, combined with poor ticket sales and a stagnant customer base as reasons for decreasing, not increasing service to Augusta.
``Delta is sending you a message,'' Dr. Barker said. ``There are two things important to the airline industry: load factor and yield. Load factor is what percentage of seats are filled. Yield is how much money made per seat.''
Augusta is not producing enough of either, he said.
Several airports in Florida have lost airline service because they had high load factor, but low yields, Dr. Barker said. Most of the passenger base was made up of economy class and frequent flier passengers. The yield was poor, Dr. Barker said. An airline always prefers a plane one third full of business class passengers over the same plane filled with economy class passengers, Dr. Barker said, because ``that's where the money is made.''
There is talk among aviation officials in Augusta that once turbo prop planes are replaced with the smaller and more comfortable regional jets, Bush Field usage and service will increase.
But Dr. Barker and other analysts say these planes are actually much more expensive to operate than turbo props: ``These jets cost five times as much as turboprops and where does that money come from: the customer,'' Dr. Barker said. ``Marginal cities will be hurt, not helped by these jets.''
Here are the Top 15 problems facing the Augusta area, taken from suggestions by area residents responding to requests from Leadership Augusta and The Augusta Chronicle. The issues are listed in alphabetical order:
Reach Justin Martin at (706) 823-3552.
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