Airlines Still Aren't Interested In MidAmerica Airport
BELLEVILLE, IL (January 8, 2001) -- MidAmerica St. Louis Airport finished construction of a passenger terminal in 1997 hoping an airline would come.
Three years later, Pan Am did. However, after five months of Pan Am operations at the airport, there are no signs yet that another airline is knocking down the door asking to start flying there.
Six airlines that do not currently serve St. Louis: American Trans Air, Jet Blue, Vanguard, Frontier, Ozark and National all said they have no plans right now to offer flights to MidAmerica. A spokesman for Midway Airlines, based in Raleigh/Durham, NC, said "no comment" when asked if the airline had plans to serve MidAmerica.
However, spokesmen for Jet Blue, Ozark and most of the other seven airlines said they were going to add airplanes throughout the year, and could not rule out future service at MidAmerica.
Floyd 'Rick' Hargrove, the director of MidAmerica, said he is continuing to talk with airlines, but is not in negotiations with one right now. Hargrove said he would like to see a second airline serving the airport as soon as possible.
"It's my hope to get a new carrier tomorrow," Hargrove said.
As incentive to begin operating at MidAmerica, Pan Am received numerous concessions from Hargrove and St. Clair County, including reduced landing fees. Hargrove said the next airline coming into the airport would receive some financial incentives, but not as many as Pan Am.
Each airline coming into the airport after that will receive fewer and fewer concessions, Hargrove said, because as the airport becomes stronger, the opportunity to offer incentives steadily decreases.
Pan Am serves Gary, Ind. and Sanford, Fla., airports near Chicago and Orlando from MidAmerica with nonstop flights. Travelers also can continue on from Gary to Allentown, Pa. and Portsmouth, N.H.
The airline uses Boeing 727 airplanes with 149 seats on those routes, and is planning to offer commuter flights to Branson, Mo. and Detroit starting this spring using 19-seat Jet Stream aircraft.
David New Myer, chair of the Aviation Management and Flight Department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, said he does not think Pan Am's performance will be the deciding factor in the airport's chances of luring another airline.
"Pan Am will be part of it, but I don't think a big part," New Myer said, about the decision of another carrier to start operating at MidAmerica.
New Myer said airlines are not likely to focus on Pan Am's performance, because the airline generally flies into and out of airports where they are the only carrier.
What New Myer thinks could have more of an impact is the status of Trans World Airlines. Lambert International Airport in St. Louis is bursting at the seams, and if TWA goes under, leaving lots of empty and available gates at Lambert, New Myer believes MidAmerica's chances of luring another airline will be hurt.
Passenger service, however, is not the only type of air traffic Hargrove wants to see at MidAmerica.
He is trying to market the airport to cargo airlines, general aviation operators and maintenance centers. Earlier it was reported that a metro-east cargo operator, Phoenix Provider, was planning to start operating at the airport.
However, Hargrove said he has heard nothing from Phoenix Provider recently, except that it was having difficulty securing the funding it need.
Still, New Myer thinks bringing in another cargo carrier might be a more viable option for MidAmerica and could happen quicker.
New Myer thinks MidAmerica's cargo prospects are better because all cargo capacity at Lambert is in use, and that airport is trying to send cargo traffic to the Mascoutah airport.
"I'm still leaning in the direction in the near term and the long term that cargo might be a better possibility for MidAmerica," New Myer said.
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
David Van Den Berg Article © Belleville News-Democrat
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