Airline Chief Said County Uninterested
MidAmerica Airport Lacks Incentives
BELLEVILLE, IL (February 20, 2000) -- Top executives of the newly reborn Ozark Air Lines met in November with St. Clair County leaders about the airline coming to MidAmerica Airport, but the idea never got off the ground.
Ozark was interested in using MidAmerica Airport - which has no regular passenger or cargo service - as a stopover point for the airline's daily flights from Columbia, Missouri, to Chicago.
John Ellis, Ozark's president, said he was eager to talk business when he met with St. Clair County Board Chairman John Baricevic, Airport director Floyd "Rick" Hargrove and the county's Public Building Commission on November 18, 1999.
But county leaders made it clear they wouldn't offer incentives such as reduced landing fees - an issue of key importance to the fledgling airline's first regular flights, which are scheduled to begin Monday.
"It appeared there wasn't a lot of interest in Ozark Air Lines at MidAmerica," Ellis said. "And it was made clear to us they didn't provide financial incentives for anyone who wanted to provide services there."
With little left to talk about, the meeting broke up after about an hour. Since that meeting three months ago, Ozark has not heard from St. Clair County officials.
"They haven't shown a lot of interest in what we were doing," Ellis said of St. Clair County officials. "And they haven't really followed up with us, nor have we with them."
Steve McGlynn, a Belleville attorney and St. Clair County Republican who set up the meeting, said Ozark officials were serious about making a deal.
"The only reasonable inference one can draw from the fact they flew in from out of state with the largest shareholder, their chief executive officer, their lawyer and their banker, is that they were fully prepared to enter into substantive negotiations," McGlynn said.
To County Board member Joe Behnken, a frequent critic of the airport's management, the failure to seal a deal with Ozark only underscores a drastic need for overhauling how the county is marketing the idle airport.
As long as the current system is in place - in which the Democratic-dominated County Board controls the airport's future - no airline will sign with MidAmerica Airport, Behnken predicted.
"Because we do not have a professional team in place ... because there is absolutely no discipline in the procedure," said Behnken, one of the County Board's few Republicans. "They just don't have that hunger that private businesses have."
Baricevic declined to comment on any aspect of the November 18 meeting with Ozark executives. But he affirmed the county's willingness to offer incentives. It just wants to be cautious in how it doles them out, he said. "We are interested in a company with a good business plan, that is well-financed, that proves to us that they have an opportunity to succeed," he said.
"We're not going to give somebody incentives, or go out of our way to get a company into our airport that's not going to make it. That would be stupid. Then the world says the airport doesn't work."
McGlynn, who took part in the meeting with Ozark officials, emphasized that before setting up the meeting, he had thoroughly studied its balance sheets and was convinced of its economic viability - something the Federal Aviation Administration looks at before granting approval to carry passengers.
Baricevic stood by the county's current reliance on private consultants - who've billed the county more than $300,000 so far - to sell MidAmerica Airport to passenger airlines and cargo operators.
"We're always willing to listen to ideas," Baricevic said. "But we've spent some real money getting the message out. If somebody has an idea that's better, we're certainly willing to listen to it."
For Behnken, the negative results thus far spotlight the need for privatizing the airport's marketing program. "Until that happens, we are dead in the water," he said.
Behnken said that in his opinion, the reason for the county's lack of interest in Ozark Air Lines stemmed from the fact that Republicans set up the meeting. "They want absolute, unmitigated control," Behnken said of county Democrats.
Last summer, state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Troy, crossed paths with an Ozark executive, who expressed interest in MidAmerica Airport. Stephens contacted McGlynn, who acted as a liaison between the county and Ozark.
McGlynn, who declined to discuss specifics of the negotiations with Ozark, praised Baricevic for his willingness to set up the meeting. "I still believe MidAmerica would be a perfect fit for an airline like that," he said.
But even if everyone put aside their differences, MidAmerica Airport remains a tough sell, according to aviation industry analysts.
"The problem with MidAmerica is that it's too far away from where everyone is and people don't want to change travel patterns," said John Boyd, a founder of the Boyd Group in Washington, D.C., which analyzed Illinois' aviation needs in 1995.
Moreover, MidAmerica Airport is too close to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to compete effectively because Lambert "is always going to offer better air service, more nonstops and lower fares and more airline choices."
Baricevic disagreed strongly, contending MidAmerica Airport 's main problem so far is "we have an empty airport. The airline industry is a very conservative industry. They like to see results, evidence of prior results. By definition, there are no prior results."
No matter the reason, MidAmerica Airport today is an airport without airlines or passengers, a ghostly quiet place that costs $3.5 million each year to maintain, even though the only voices you hear within its walls emanate from the TVs that broadcast all day near idle ticket counters and baggage carousels.
During his brief visit in November, Ellis said he experienced a mix of feelings about the place. "It was nice to see such nice facilities," Ellis said. "But it was sad to see no one was using them. And you wondered, 'My goodness, someone paid an awful lot for this and it's not being utilized?"'
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
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